New Tutorial System, Reactor Fuel Changes, and Other Fixes

[p]Hey Folks![/p][p]We have a new update (v0.14.3.21) available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.[/p][p]This is a hotfix to our "Across the System" update, which adds a new tutorial system, addresses reactor autopilot behavior, and fixes several other issues.[/p][p]Saves from v0.14.0.0 and later should work. Note that if you were experiencing issues in the older save, this patch may fix some, but others may persist depending on the cause.[/p][h2][/h2]

• [p]The game now has a more fleshed-out, modal tutorial system. It covers up to returning from visiting the tutorial derelict.[/p]

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• [p]NAV station now correctly reports remaining fuel in both torch panel and Print Status page.[/p]
• [p]Reactants are now removed more consistently with autopilot's projected use.[/p]
• [p]Autopilot will now auto-adjust the FLOW to keep reactor running smoothly.[/p]
• [p]Super fast-forward should now position ship and use fuel more accurately when exceeding trip duration.[/p]
• [p]Reactor thrust should now be consistent between autopilot and manual slider values.[/p]
• [p]Autopilot will now cancel when the reactor's temperature is too high/low, instead of when sliders change.[/p]
• [p]The NAV screen will now warn player if they are attempting to thrust while paused.[/p]

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• [p]NPC pilots will be less likely to spin back and forth, particularly at higher game speeds.[/p]
• [p]NPC pilots should be less likely to crash into their docking targets, particularly at higher game speeds.[/p]
• [p]NPC pilots will be less likely to bob forward and back mid-trip.[/p]
• [p]The game should no longer spawn excessive, unnecessary salvage pods inside the sun over time.[/p]

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• [p]It is no longer possible to get infinite skills/traits via the character creation exploit.[/p]

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• [p]AIs finding their next task should be more efficient now.[/p]
• [p]Crew should no longer be knocked down when loading a save game under thrust.[/p]
• [p]Crew should no longer be knocked down when finishing an autopilot trip with super fast-forward.[/p]
• [p]AIs will no longer run around stripping corpses for fun.[/p]

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• [p]New games will no longer spawn a fountain of blood at 0,0.[/p]
• [p]Powered items should be more CPU efficient now.[/p]
• [p]Ship brokers will no longer treat 100% restored items as damaged.[/p]
• [p]Ship brokers will no longer assess ship values incorrectly if it had precious gases in containers.[/p]
• [p]Gig Nexus lockers are now accessible all the time.[/p]
• [p]Gig Nexus will now only take items relevant to the gig when turned-in.[/p]
• [p]Floors purchased from the sundries kiosk on OKLG will no longer leak air when installed.[/p]
• [p]Items turned-in to Gig Nexus no longer become invisible ghost items in the game.[/p]
• [p]Tooltips should get stuck on screen less often.[/p]
• [p]Added some more null exception handling to address newly found cases. (E.g. pathfinding, haulers, stations, trade routes.)[/p]
• [p]Save games will no longer ignore lot items nested inside lot items, which can occasionally occur.[/p]

[p]A lot of our feedback still cites lack of a tutorial as a major barrier to enjoying the game. So we've been working on better in-game tools to help with that shortcoming. This new new tutorial system is called Ostraka.[/p][p][/p][p]When starting a new game, any tutorial-related objectives will now open a relevant Ostraka page, and pause the game so players can read it at their leisure. If the topic has multiple pages associated with it, the arrows at the bottom right will navigate those pages.[/p][p][/p][p]Players can also jump forward and backward through the chapters to review old pages or peek at new ones any time, by using the chapter navigation tools.[/p][p][/p][p]Current chapters include early game basics on OKLG, flying your ship, salvaging an example derelict, and returning to OKLG to sell goods. And we intend to add to the chapters over time. We hope the Ostraka will help new players scale the steep learning curve a bit more comfortably![/p][p]This patch also includes several changes and fixes to the reactor system. Historically, autopilot would be able to do things with the reactor that players couldn't do manually. And the fuel estimates it produced did not reflect actual fuel usage.[/p][p][/p][p]This patch addresses FLOW and CYCLE sliders to produce the same thrust both with and without autopilot, and rectifies fuel usage so autopilot's predicted fuel use matches what is actually used by the reactor. Note that autopilot is typically less fuel efficient than a skilled pilot would be![/p][p]NPC pilots also received some updates to improve their flying, as well as fixes to avoid spawning them unnecessarily. And AI workers should now be a bit more efficient in finding their next task. Powered items also had some improvements to cpu efficiency, all of which should help with performance. [/p][p]The new character "infinite skill point" exploit has finally been fixed (sorry!), and now characters will only get free skills the first career term.[/p][p]With the help of some player saves, we were finally able to find and fix the cause of some floors voiding rooms after a save/reload! It turns out this was happening whenever someone purchased floors from a different map than their ship (e.g. OKLG Sundries kiosk), and that floor was stacked in a barter zone, then later installed in a room. Typically, this appeared with the Testudo "Spring" floor types, since they were purchased more often. But this could happen with any stackable room part.[/p][p][/p][p]Finally, Gig Nexus locker behavior was also changed, so now players can access the locker at any time, and gigs will only take required items, instead of all items. And we fixed a number of other miscellaneous bugs.[/p][p]As always, there's plenty more for us to fix, change, and add! And we'll be continuing in roughly that order. In the meantime, let us know how things are working for you in the new patch[/p][p]Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC[/p]