This build adds the much requested full screen mode option in the settings menu. The issue that was causing graphical problems with steam and other elements of the game is no more thus allowing this feature to be added.
Thankfully now that the bugs have calmed down a bit additional content and features can get back into the game. Bugs are still a major priority and constantly being investigated but to get to the root of the problem it often takes time. This update however adds a few more sector events to help with those who have been playing for a while. Restarting the game is not required to encounter them.
A new crew policy has also been added as well to remove any AI direct orders when combat immediately starts. This way crew should be even more responsive to their scheduled combat tasks. This change was a recommendation by a member of the community and it being a policy will allow everyone to tune the ship exactly how they expect things to play out. Keep an eye out for more policies like this to get the crew to work as you want them.
ALPHA V4.11 PATCH NOTES
CREW POLICY
Added remove AI orders at combat start to the crew policy settings. This will remove any direct order given to the crew to force them to respond immedaitely to current combat needs.
EVENTS
Additional sector events have been added.
SAVE/LOAD
Remove AI orders when attacked setting added to save/load process.
SETTINGS
The issues that were preventing full screen mode have now been resolved. This option can now be changed via settings in the main menu.
Added text values to audio sliders.
STEAM
Completion of Emoticons and Profile Backgrounds. Trading cards will be held off until a later release.
Steam Update #10!
Although this was a bit of a shortened week due to the hardware issues we managed to push through and get some of the remaining high level bugs corrected and continue to fix up the base game.
Due to the time constraints of pushing a build out each week its running into some issues in regards to content. The high level bugs have been fixed over the past few weeks as we continued to stabilize and fix a lot of the issues that came with getting it into many hands.
Due to this the unstable branch will be getting continuously updated and tested however the main branch will now be updated biweekly. For those who opt into the unstable build anticipate more frequent updates while we begin to add more content and gameplay features.
Overall this should greatly help the overall experience as we have been working hard through illnesses and issues non stop. It should also help with some QA work and avoid any feelings of rushing while things are getting done.
Here is a sneak preview of the final alien race that should be making its appearance shortly via the in game events as the new content just missed the cutoff period.
ALPHA V4.10 PATCH NOTES
BUGS
Various low level graphical bugs/issues
CONTENT
Wire final alien race animations into game
COMBAT
Loading a game while in combat will no longer allow the combat to persist.
Enemy Battle Cruisers damage has been increased by 10%.
SELECTION
Clicking empty locations will now clear the currently selected object.
PATHFINDING
More pathfinding checks.
RESEARCH
Galactic communications now currently reflect the current stage of early access. As more functionality is added the levels will increase. This should help with point allocation decisions.
Steam Update #9!
The latest steam update has now been uploaded. Everything is back online and updates can continue per normal. Due to the hardware issue the patch notes are not long to ensure stability however we want to make sure these updates get out immediately.
The latest update ensures the steam overlay will now properly be displayed. Also a major performance issue was also addressed this week that took a bit longer to narrow down thus the smaller notes. This should help with many FPS issues that were occurring.
Alpha V4.9 Patch Notes
CREW
Various crew AI updates.
PERFORMANCE
Major performance enhancements across the game.
STEAM
Steam overlay should now properly be displayed.
Update 9 slightly delayed.
Update 9 will be slightly delayed for a few days. There was an issue with hardware failure resulting in the delay. Hopefully this should be resolved by the end of the weekend.
Thanks for your patience.
Steam Update #8!
This week focuses on continual improvements to the overall game flow with changes to the current event system. In order to remove a lot of the waiting time when traveling between sector nodes the overall distance has been reduced by 60% which should greatly alleviate a lot of time spent waiting around in between nodes.
The focus is still on the crew and managing their needs along with the overall efficiency of the ship but playing the game strictly in fast forward mode was not the intent based on a lot of feedback. On board ship events are still in the making but it should not interrupt any of the current systems.
Additional pathfinding fixes have been added to the game as well that should fix some issues that arose as normally they would fix themselves after a few minutes with "stuck checks" but these stuck checks will now occur whenever the build system is used as well.
Lastly this build also adds an unstable branch that can be opted into. This should allow for even more rapid improvements and integrations. This build does spit out errors to a log file in the game's content folder in the event any issues arise.
ALPHA V4.8 PATCH NOTES
CREW
Crew members utilizing the shower when their bladder is low are no longer above just holding it and waiting.
EVENTS
Added a sound effect when the monitor comes online.
PATHFINDING
Additional pathfinding fixes using default and previous layouts.
SECTOR MAP
Increased the minimum distance between nodes by 50%.
Overall travel times have been cut by 60%. This should greatly reduce the amount of waiting between nodes and help with the overall flow of the game while working to maintain the ship.
TUTORIAL
Clicking an opened tutorial button should also hide the window if is the currently selected tutorial.
UNSTABLE BRANCH
Added an unstable branch to steam for additional updates.
UI
Tooltips added to the following crew data windows.
Crew selection
Crew management
Update #7 Hotfix!
Thanks to community members Bigsbythegreat and Domore we were able to narrow down an issue that was occurring when launching the game via steam.
Several of the Steam API calls resulted in issues with accepting rewards and completing combat events. Because of this they have been temporarily disabled in order to get more testing.
Once again the community has been extremely helpful and we appreciate you all of your help with making this game great!
Steam Update #7!
We are now mid stride into our second month of early access. There are a lot of big features being implemented that take a lot of work to get done and made into a playable state which has a bit longer turn around time. A lot of these should hopefully be in by the next update.
This update however adds some added cleanup and overall functionality to your crew members. Crew stats are a bit more evenly distributed now so as to make choosing who to bring a little tougher on initial selection. You can even customize crew members names via the Crew management window to really feel a sense of attachment as you enter danger.
These changes alter the pace of the game a bit by reducing some of the constant micromanagement needs.
In supporting other indie games on early access we noticed that many of them with similar team sizes and in similar situations with their development had disclaimers to inform players directly in the game. In order to match this we have added a disclaimer of our own into the game as well. We want to make sure people understand what they are getting into immediately that way if they don't feel they want to support the game they can get a refund immediately or wait and play it at a later stage.
Despite what is said on the early access information some players still believe the game is complete or not going to change which is not the case. We never want to deceive our fans thus the need for the disclaimer. It will eventually have some added features to hopefully provide more feedback and other elements over time.
ALPHA V4.7 PATCH NOTES
CREW
Crew stats are now distributed in a manner to make specialization a lot easier. Also crew members more represent themselves as the best Earth has to offer. This change only effects new crew members obtained not preexisting ones.
Crew member names can now be changed via the crew management panel.
Fixed a crew recruitment issue when selecting different crew members.
Flight crew members now have the ability to start with piloting skills which was being granted to mechanics for features not quite in the game yet.
Needs
Decreased natural need loss for all traits by 20%.
Decreased additional bladder loss when eating by 25%.
Increased sleep regeneration by 40% when using a bed.
Increased bladder regeneration by 30% when using a restroom.
Increase cleanliness regeneration by 10% when using the Shower.
STEAM
Several steam API fixes.
*Still a work in progress**
UI
Cleaned up several tooltips.
Added a disclaimer page to mimic several other early access development pages in order to promote more feedback.
Steam Update #6!
This week continues with some event cleanup work and ensuring the sector and galaxy map are properly working in order to add additional features and content in the weeks/months to come. There is a lot still to come to make sure the game is constantly engaging like events that occur during traveling and more crew interactions.
We are finally getting around to some of the Steam features that seem to be missing so hopefully that will be resolved soon and allow for an overall better experience.
There is also a lot of work going on behind the scenes to get new gameplay features in. Here is a sneak preview of the Female Pilots/Marines in game. Make sure to keep an eye on our Trello Board to see the new features in the works.
ALPHA V4.6 PATCH NOTES
CREW
Additional work added in preparation for additional crew members.
ENEMY SHIPS
Slightly increased enemy shield recharge amount, not the speed at which they increase.
EVENTS
Updated several event images.
GALAXY MAP
Updated the completed location color to green to contrast the red on failed locations.
Additional protections added during traveling.
OPTIONS
You may now return to main menu during ship travel.
RESEARCH
Fixed an issue where opening research window would not always display the currently selected research option.
SAVE/LOAD
Fixed an issue where loading a save mid travel would result in the inability to continue moving.
SECTOR MAP
Sector locations should attempt to adhere to a minimum distance.
SHIP OBJECTS
New scanning monitor has been added to the command deck. When the battleship scanner technology has been unlocked, scanning monitors in the command deck will provide a bonus to find enemy subsystems.
UI
Updated several UI text alignments.
Steam Update #5!
This week starts the beginning of the event system updates. Primarily these updates should help with some of the repetition that could occur during the traveling events. This will also ensure additional content additions will be shown more often overtime.
Additional updates to the system are planned but the overall flow should begin to feel a lot better.
We still have a heavy focus on bug fixes but the critical issues have been getting addressed quickly. We plan to enable error logging to help with this at some point but will announce more about this at a later time.
Alpha V4.5 PATCH NOTES
Combat
Additional balancing updates for enemy ship's firing speeds.
CREW
The crew should now properly react to changes in work schedule when working a position not ordered by the player. For instance, being set to back to back different jobs should now properly switch to the new job.
EVENTS
More communications with Alien lifeforms should begin to appear more frequently.
Larger alien ships will appear much sooner in the game based on distance from Earth.
Fixed an issue where many ship travel events were not showing.
Taking damage from an event should now properly play the shield or hull damage SFX depending on the type of damage taken. This can still be considered deadly if the ship has taken a lot of damage without repairs.
When traveling around a sector each event should be unique for the sector and repeats should very rarely occur.
GALAXY MAP
Map difficulty levels will now slightly randomize so that a location of a specific distance away will now have a possible difficulty range making long range scanners more important. This change requires starting a new game.
LIGHTING
Several changes to the rendering of sprites have been made. We will monitor to make sure things continue to appear correctly.
PERFORMANCE
Several performance increases to help with FPS particularly on larger ships.
ROOMS
Ship objects will now be repaired when at Earth.
Room supply monitors on load should properly display their correct room supplies.
SHIP LAYOUT
Fixed an issue where the room resizing prompts and new build locations were not always showing.
Loading previous ship layouts will now adhere to the current available research. Turrets and rooms that are not unlocked will not be loaded.
SAVE/LOAD
Fixed several mouse interactions with the load game UI.
UI
Fixed several tooltip locations.
Steam Update #4
This week continues with several bug fixes to the crew and combat systems. We have been able to narrow down a lot of issues and made sure to add additional checks in game to hopefully stop them from persisting. There is still work that needs to occur but things overall appear to be calming down.
We have tried to maintain backwards compatibility with the current save and load game systems but as time goes on we may have to invalidate old saves based on the pure number of changes. We will try and make sure you all are aware when this needs to occur in advance. We will continue to monitor issues as they arise but wanted to be clear on this stance.
Before adding the additional combat and exploration systems we must focus on solidifying the current experience. A lot of your suggestions have helped with this greatly and solidified are plans by giving suggestions on exactly what we had in our backlog so thanks for that and continue to let us know what you want added.
We are now moving toward several updates to the current event system along with additional content. These updates will be coming in over the next few weeks with additions over time so you will begin to see many improvements as you traverse various locations. These improvements include graphic updates, more content and variety as we found that some events are consistently being shown too often.
Alpha V4.4 PATCH NOTES
COMBAT
The weapon system should now consistently fire with the advanced turret systems.
CREW
Fixed several crew stability issues.
Crew members attempting to use the shower and bathroom will not be able to queue for both blocking other crew members that are waiting.
Fixed an issue where crew members working in the engine room would not always fill storage units.
Reduced the overall experience gained when piloting the ship between locations.
Crew members working on the shield and weapon consoles will appear to stop working on the consoles to indicate the systems are full. This also will mean the durability of the console will no longer decrease when not in use.
ENEMIES
Fixed an issue where enemy ships were not always adhering to current game speed.
EVENTS
Damage taken from an event should now no longer scale to obscene amounts of damage based on distance from Earth. They now cap.
HANGAR
Initial hangar bay placement is now visible. Additional functionality will be coming soon.
SAVE/LOAD
Additional save game checks.
SHIP OBJECTS
Fixed an issue where the food replicator in the cafeteria was not able to feed users after being fixed.
UI
UI should once again probably block mouse over effects when the user interface is over an object.
Escape key should now work to close menus and open the options menu when no other windows are open.
