Ostranauts News

[p]Hey Folks![/p][p][/p][p]Update v0.14.5.14 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.[/p][p][/p][p]This is a hotfix update to our "Inventory Overhaul" update, which includes several requested quality of life enhancements, plus fixes for tutorials, UIs, and other bugs.[/p][p][/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][p]
Note: 📢 indicates changes inspired by community feedback![/p][h2][/h2]

• [p]📢PDA Orders now work by dragging a selection box that fills with the order, instead of painting like a pencil.[/p]
• [p]📢Holding F now force-walks to a tile, instead of picking up item in that tile.[/p]
• [p]Crew on different ship than captain should once again be able to pick up items in inventory UI.[/p]
• [p]Ships with even-sized placeholders should no longer glitch on loading, causing rooms, walls, and pathfinding to break.[/p]
• [p]Tutorial should no longer get stuck if the user restarts their game without closing the app.[/p]
• [p]Equipping a lamp in the left hand while a PDA is in the forearm will correctly affect lighting now.[/p]
• [p]📢QAB now has an option to manually resume task on that object, if applicable.[/p]
• [p]📢QAB install keeps game paused until item is placed now.[/p]
• [p]Crew shouldn't interrupt captain with work complaints if the captain is busy now.[/p]
• [p]Prox and tracking alarms now work for crew when captain is on another ship.[/p]
• [p]📢Clicking an inventory window anywhere now brings that window to the front.[/p]
• [p]Shift clicking large items on the floor no longer swaps with dolly in drag slot, if dolly has room.[/p]
• [p]Right-clicking with PDA order on cursor clears cursor first, then closes PDA.[/p]
• [p]Right-clicking portrait once again opens the MTT.[/p]
• [p]Selling cargo no longer gets the cargo UI stuck.[/p]
• [p]Aerodynamic walls no longer cause NAV UI to stutter as much.[/p]
• [p]AI pilots should run out of fuel less often now.[/p]
• [p]AI ships shouldn't yo-yo near docking targets any more.[/p]
• [p]Yellow coveralls now have an inventory action.[/p]
• [p]More UI feedback if player attempts to walk while paused.[/p]

[p]One of the bigger changes here is to how the PDA orders work, and has been a long-time player request. It is now possible to paint orders/installed items by dragging a box, and that box will fill with the order. Previously, users had to paint individual tiles like using a pencil, and this could be very time-consuming. Hopefully, now it'll be much faster to do large tasks and ship layouts, while still allowing precision work with individual tiles and dragging straight lines.[/p][p][/p][p]Right-click also now clears the cursor first, instead of clearing the cursor and closing the PDA while in PDA orders mode.[/p][p][/p][p]Players also requested a way to force walk to a tile that is occupied by an item. With the inventory open, the character would default to picking up the item if the tile was occupied, making walking in messy environments harder.[/p][p][/p][p]Furthermore, there was a bug preventing crew from picking up items if they were too far away from the captain. This is now also fixed. And some players noticed inventory windows could get stuck behind others, making them hard to separate, so we made any clicked window pop to the front for easier repositioning.[/p][p][/p][p]And, at long last, shift-clicking large objects will no longer swap with the dolly in the drag slot, if there's room![/p][p][/p][p]A more subtle bug with big implications was also fixed. Sometimes, if a ship had a placeholder on it of even tile dimensions, that ship would incorrectly load, causing all kinds of gas, pathfinder, and other issues. This is now fixed.[/p][p][/p][p]Our tutorial system had a bug after the last big patch which prevented tutorials from completing if the user quit to main menu and started a new game. This should now work normally again.[/p][p][/p][p]The left hand slot will now appropriately show lighting effects if there is a lamp in both the forearm PDA slot and hand slot.[/p][p][/p][p]The QAB had two player suggestions implemented. One is a button to manually resume a task that was abandoned, which previously wasn't possibly without using AUTOTASK. The other was to keep the game paused when Install was chosen, until the item was placed.[/p][p][/p][p]Plus several other fixes to ship AIs, UIs, etc.[/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 if this patch helps you out, as well as if it reveals new problems![/p][p]
Best,[/p][p]Daniel Fedor[/p][p]Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC[/p]

Hey Folks!

Another quick hotfix (0.14.5.12) to address an issue where users could no longer right-click to select placeholder items (e.g. an object being installed).

This patch should restore that ability. Thanks again for your patience and help in chasing down these issues!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

Hey Folks!

This is just a hotfix for the recent patch to address several null exceptions that could occur during the tutorial, particularly when saving/loading during the tutorial:

• Loading a save that lacked IDs for target objects no longer causes null exceptions, and will fall-back on using the player as a target object instead.
  
• Quitting or hot-loading a game will no longer cause null exceptions as the tutorial tries to clear listeners.
  
• Hot-loading or starting a new game after one game has been played in the same session no longer causes missing objective targets.
  

Sorry for the inconveniences these errors caused! Hopefully, this stabilizes most of the issues players have been running into, so they can get back to enjoying the game.

Let us know if you run into any other issues!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

[p]Hey Folks![/p][p][/p][p]Update v0.14.5.10 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.[/p][p][/p][p]This is a hotfix update to our "Inventory Overhaul" update, which includes a fix for softlocked characters, crew item pickups, and tutorials getting stuck.[/p][p][/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][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]Characters will no longer become permanently softlocked if they receive a permanent condition during fast-forward.[/p]
• [p]Non-captain crew can once again pick up items when away from the captain.[/p]
• [p]Saving and loading the game during the tutorial will no longer break the tutorial.[/p]

[p]The biggest fix here was for characters getting softlocked. In some games, characters would get stuck forever if fast-forward added a condition to them with no expiration, and the issue could persist across saves. This patch will prevent that from happening in the future, and should fix the broken timer on existing saves.[/p][p][/p][p]Another fix involved crew members using the inventory to pick up items. This was incorrectly using the captain to determine reach range, and could break crew picking up items when they were too far away. This should also once again work.[/p][p][/p][p]Finally, it was possible to break the tutorial sequence by saving, quitting, and reloading during the tutorial. Today's patch will stop that from happening in the future, but existing saves with a broken tutorial will not resume the tutorial, unfortunately.[/p][p][/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 if this patch helps you out, as well as if it reveals new problems![/p][p][/p][p]Best,[/p][p]Daniel Fedor[/p][p]Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC[/p][p][/p]

[p]Hey Folks![/p][p][/p][p]Update v0.14.5.9 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.[/p][p][/p][p]This is a hotfix patch to our "Inventory Overhaul" update, which includes improvements for the tutorial and PDA Social App, plus fixes for auto-damage, UI, and other issues.[/p][p][/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][p]
Note: 📢 indicates changes inspired by community feedback![/p][p][/p]

• [p]📢 Tutorial has new player-suggested steps and edits added for clarity.[/p]
• [p]Tutorial now extends through tutorial derelict to returning to OKLG to sell salvage.[/p]
• [p]Tutorial now includes optional goals found on OKLG.[/p]
• [p]Objective rollover now always shows on-screen arrow to point to target, if possible.[/p]
• [p]Tutorials will no longer produce null exceptions when a unique item ID is missing.[/p]
• [p]Objective arrow will no longer stay on screen if a control panel opens while mousing over an objective.[/p]

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• [p]📢 PDA Socials app now has a way to filter by relationship, and sort by name/closeness.[/p]
• [p]Ship's mass is now reported on NAV Logs and STATUS screens.[/p]
• [p]NAV STATUS page no longer has a line break alignment issue when reactor is live.[/p]
• [p]Character creation Work On Self now shows correct list of viable skills/hobbies.[/p]
• [p]QAB now correctly refreshes after changing selected item's name.[/p]
• [p]QAB no longer has an option to drop items, to avoid illegal stacking bugs (except corpses).[/p]

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• [p]It is no longer possible to persistence-hunt characters into having a crush on you against their preferences.[/p]
• [p]Pathfinders with airlock access but no disembark permission no longer get stuck if the path outside is through another ship.[/p]
• [p]AI ships now send undocking messages to stations when appropriate.[/p]

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• [p]📢 Stations will now repair items while the player is away.[/p]
• [p]Ships and items no longer auto-damage each time saves are loaded.[/p]
• [p]Loose social items will now be swept up and removed on load.[/p]
• [p]Players can no longer grab items through walls.[/p]
• [p]Whodunnit plot can be closed/abandoned more reliably now, even if victim's body is absent.[/p]
• [p]The Matchmaker plot will no longer ask the player to find a mate for dead participants.[/p]
• [p]Long-duration conditions should now expire more accurately.[/p]
• [p]Police that run out of fuel while targeting player can no longer prevent Super Fast-Forward.[/p]
• [p]Dragging a corpse that has a PDA slotted no longer affects the vizor settings of the dragger.[/p]
• [p]Pirate spawning should be limited to correct stations and population counts now.[/p]
• [p]Loose tables and terminals no longer block walking.[/p]
• [p]Items will no longer infinitely duplicate if attached to inventory cursor when a control panel opens.[/p]
• [p]Uninstalling items should no longer crash the game due to a rendering/lighting bug.[/p]
• [p]Ship's logs should no longer cause null exceptions if missing on load.[/p]
• [p]Loading Markets jsons no longer has potential for naming/type collisions.[/p]
• [p]Ship editor now has a UI for adding uniquely-tagged objects to ships.[/p]
• [p]Several typos and grammar fixes.[/p]

[p][/p][p]The tutorial got a lot of attention in this update, starting with a rewrite of how we set and trigger events. This allowed us to more easily add new tutorial steps, so that the tutorial now guides the player through the tutorial derelict, and back to OKLG where they can sell their loot, and refuel for another trip.[/p][p][/p][p]Plus, we were able to add some more granular steps recommended by players, and cover some more optional steps in the OKLG starting area. And the objective rollover now shows an arrow even when the target is on-screen.[/p][p][/p][p]UIs also got some attention. Several players asked if we could do something about the chaos in the PDA Socials app, as it would get overrun with NPCs as the game continued. Now, the app has a filter for hiding certain relationships, plus several sorting options. And by default, all characters are listed alphabetically now.[/p][p][/p][p]The NAV station can now report ship's mass, and the STATUS page no longer has a line alignment bug. Character creation now shows only the skills that are active in-game, and the QAB had a few fixes applied.[/p][p][/p][p]AI should no longer fall for incompatible characters through sheer persistence, and pathfinders should now be able to handle paths that start and end on the same ship, but traverse another ship, while not having disembark permissions.[/p][p]
Finally, a range of more general issues have been addressed.[/p][p]
Stations should now be kept-up a bit better in longer saves, both repairing while the player is away, and cleaning up social items that leak onto the floor. (We're still looking for good repro steps on this social item bug, by the way!) Plus saving and loading the game will no longer auto-damage ships and stations.[/p][p][/p][p]We found and fixed an inventory bug involving reaching through walls, as well as a bug which prevented long-duration conditions from expiring in some cases.[/p][p][/p][p]Plus several other bugs that could cause trouble.[/p][p]

[/p][p]For those wondering about the "Fire in the Hold!" update (0.15), we've been working on that, as well![/p][p][/p][p]In our last sneak peek, we revealed two of the weapon types ships can carry: missiles and direct fire (rail guns and coil guns). Today, we have a third option to share: the point defense cannon (PDC).[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]As the name implies, this weapon is more defensive in nature. Modeled after PDCs in sci-fi like The Expanse, as well as more contemporary examples like the Phalanx CIWS, this weapon will auto-target and fire upon any threat that enters its firing arc.[/p][p][/p][p]In the image above, we see it fire on a variety of incoming rail gun rounds, with varying success. (Head-on targets with a low VREL are easier to hit.) Of course, in a pinch, the PDC can also be deployed against other ships at short range, as seen in the end of the above animation.[/p][p][/p][p]We've also been working on a new location for the 0.15 update. The current plan is for the new location to be in the vicinity of Ceres, in the Main Asteroid Belt.[/p][p]
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Since some players prefer more action, and some wish to just chill, we wanted to give players some agency in how much ship combat they experience. So we plan to keep OKLG fairly low-conflict, for both new and conflict-averse players. And for players who want more action, they can seek it out by leaving the starting area to where trouble is more common.[/p][p][/p][p]In the above screenshot, we see the current state of asteroid spawns and rendering. We're experimenting with various spawn densities and amounts to see what balance we can strike between complexity and performance.[/p][p][/p][p]Sensors are another important area of the 0.15 update. As mentioned in the last sneak peek, we've been experimenting with different sensor types and their behaviors. And today, we have a bit more we can show:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]
This animation shows what the area around a ship looks like as various sensor packages are enabled. It starts with the map being mostly empty, with dim, ghost-like dots jumping around in the dark.[/p][p][/p][p]As we start switching on passive sensors, optics let us see some nearby wrecks, while EM and IR sensors reveal "live" ships with transponders and "hot" equipment. We still have a limited picture, but we are in a purely listening mode, and harder to detect.[/p][p][/p][p]Switching to active sensors, we start sending out signals to listen for echos. RADAR reveals a much wider range of nearby vessels, while LIDAR helps resolve their actual shape and size. They create the best picture of our surroundings, but also broadcast our position to everyone nearby.[/p][p][/p][p]Of course, the specifics of all of these systems are still changing as we build and playtest. But hopefully, this satisfies some curiosity about what we've been up to.



Lastly, I wanted to take a moment to address Ostranauts's release date.[/p][p][/p][p]In 2024, when we announced 1.0 and our collaboration with Kitfox, we estimated that Ostranauts would release in 2025. Since then, we’ve received a lot of attention and support from both long time fans and newcomers to the game. We heard feedback saying that, while excited about new features and content, players also wanted more stability and quality of life features in Ostranauts.[/p][p][/p][p]As a result, we introduced a "Hardening Phase 1" to our Roadmap, to better address this feedback. And for most of 2025, we've split our development effort between fixing what's there now, and working on what's next.[/p][p][/p][p]So far, that plan feels like it has been the right move. Stability and usability in the game are markedly improved over this time last year, and we were able to add a few additional player-requested features along the way.[/p][p]
That said, as 2025 enters its final quarter, we think it makes the most sense for us to delay the 1.0 release to 2026. Your support over the year has given us more time, and we feel it's best to use that time to make Ostranauts the best game it can be.[/p][p][/p][p]We still expect players to get hands-on with the Fire in the Hold update by the end of this year, and more quality of life fixes and upgrades to boot. We just wanted to be clear about our plans, going forward.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks again to all of you for your support! Because of you, we've been able to work on improving Ostranauts longer than we expected, and we can't wait to see more of the stories you create in our world.[/p]