Ostranauts News

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.11.0.7 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This is a hotfix to our recently released "Pistols & Punches" update that fixes several bugs and issues reported by players. Notably, the way crimes and faction changes are reported has been improved, NPCs should be less likely to disrupt important conversations, and gigs should stop targeting impossible people, among other fixes.

Saves from v0.11.0.0 and later should work. If you were experiencing issues in the older save, this patch may fix some, but others may persist depending on the cause.

• Fixed a bug that prevented nav (and other item) UIs from working again after loading an autosave where that UI was in use.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed NPCs to lie down and sleep in the middle of important conversations with the player.
  
• Changed AI to avoid wandering off during important conversations.
  
• Fixed a bug that left players stranded in an important conversation if the other party died or fell unconscious.
  
• Added the ability to forcefully rouse sleeping NPCs.
  
• Changed crime to require witnesses before it can be reported.
  
• Changed crime reporting to be an action witness NPCs have to manually do (and can be interrupted). Police witnesses instantly log crimes.
  
• Changed witness crime reporting so friends, crew, family, and other close relations won't narc on the perpetrator.
  
• Changed crime so police acting on a known suspect don't become criminals.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed NPCs to log a crime on someone immediately after they finish the arrest process. (E.g. if they were in reporting in progress as police arrested target)
  
• Changed police fine for public disorder to be a one-time fee, instead of recurring. So players can pay it all at once.
  
• Changed crime so actions against known criminals don't count as a crime.
  
• Changed faction boosts/penalties to only take effect if done to a person, or a person witnesses it done to an item.
  
• Changed NPCs to not bother logging faction boosts/penalties if the person acting and the recipient are both foreign factions.
  
• Changed NPCs to not log faction penalties on friends, family, crew, and other close relations.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the Fixer and Port Authority clerk to turn the player away immediately after succeeding with them.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause NPCs to not fight people they are currently in combat with. (E.g. police or muggers constantly shouting but never doing anything)
  
• Fixed a bug that caused police to shout at unconscious people.
  
• Added the ability for the player to refuse arrest if a different officer just finished arresting them.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused honeypot gigs to target pirates or dead people.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused courier gigs to target pirates or dead people.
  
• Fixed a bug in career kiosk that caused some age-related condition removals to be immediately re-added due to crossing age threshold.
  
• Added an autosave the first time a player docks with a derelict that has hostiles on board.
  
• Changed several important kiosks and other objects to be indestructible.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused inventory grids to overlap with the bottom UI, and hidden.
  
• Fixed a bug that did not detect when a first-time player was starting the game, making it harder for them.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented people drinking/eating from containers.
  
• Added a faction standings boost with employer for completing their gigs.
  
• Fixed a bug that made honeypot final action hard to notice.
  
• Added some extra options to the honeypot gig's action list.
  
• Fixed a bug that made the snap photo gig impossible sometimes.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed the user to snap a photo for the gig without line of sight.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented loose wall lights from going into hand slots.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented loose beds from going into hand slots.
  
• Fixed a bug that made being well-groomed have more trouble sleeping, instead of less.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some derelict corpses to not really be dead.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused camera shake to be too powerful.
  
• Fixed a bug that failed to update player's name in career kiosk header after changing it in the appearance GUI.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed the Mescaform bartender to do things only the Fixer should do.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused wearing EVA suits to lessen effects of some non-work tasks/interactions.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused a charge bar to appear on non-battery-like powered item info UI.
  
• Fixed a bug in aberrant wound healing condition that made infections heal too fast.
  
• Fixed a null error that could occur when loading the encounter for first derelict docking.
  
• Fixed a null error when an AI was attempting to do a repeated action on a missing target.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed the user to select helper items in the game world that are meant to be invisible.
  
• Fixed a bug that incorrectly calculated faction change amounts based on population.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented freshening up with water/wipes from working.
  
• Fixed several missing conditions on the career kiosk's Review Resume page.
  
• Fix several typos.
  

One big change in this patch affects the way crime and faction reporting works, so it is non-instant, non-omniscient, and makes sure NPCs are a little more careful about whom they fight.

Most crimes and faction changes now require that a witness have line of sight to the action, and that they be someone who would care. E.g. crew won't narc on their captain, nor will friends/family.

And police will no longer be flagged as public enemies for executing their attack warrants on public enemies.

Furthermore, crime reporting now happens on a delay, and you should be able to see the NPC reporting the crime in real time. If you are fast, you can stop them!

Another smaller, but very important fix, is to the way UIs work. A number of users ran into issues with UIs not working on some objects after loading a save (usually the nav station). The bug causing this has been fixed.

Several important kiosks were also made indestructible for now, so players don't lose access to the mediclinic, trade kiosks, refueling/docking kiosks, etc.

Another batch of fixes addresses AI behavior during important conversations. AI should be less likely to wander off during such conversations, and are also expressly forbidden from lying down to sleep during a stakes conversation. Just for good measure, we also added the ability to wake up sleeping NPCs.

Several fixes address the Gig Nexus system, and it should now be a little more selective about its targets. Namely, no more dead/pirate targets for courier and honeypot missions. And snapshot missions should be more reliable/realistic when attempting to take a photo now. (There are still occasional Gigs targeting very distant NPCs, though, so please watch the range info in the Gig closely!)

The infamous "middle aged unfit" bug has also been fixed. Now, if the player crosses the middle age mark as a result of removing negative traits, they won't be immediately re-added due to age!

Plus a host of other fixes.

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!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.11.0.6 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This is a hotfix to our recently released "Pistols & Punches" update that fixes several bugs and issues reported by players. Notably, several AI and UI fixes, objective mute toggle, and an overhaul of the damage colors on floors.

Saves from v0.11.0.0 and later should work. If you were experiencing issues in the older save, this patch may fix some, but others may persist depending on the cause.

• Added ability to toggle all tutorial objectives on/off inside PDA.
  
• Added ability to mute all objectives on/off inside PDA.
  
• Added code to AI so it tries to help other allies in combat before choosing a fresh target to attack.
  
• Changed the damage colors on all floors to be less intense.
  
• Changed sleeping so it is not possible to fall asleep while wearing a helmet.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused newly hired crew to be missing some functionality. (Re-hiring them should solve the issue in any affected saves.)
  
• Fixed a bug that caused QAB tooltips to remain open if they were visible when QAB was hidden.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused NPCs to suddenly change targets when they hit a target.
  
• Fixed a null error that could occur when opening/closing Funds UI while using the nav station.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused AI to attack someone because that person hated the AI, instead of the other way around.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented using the machete's broadside slap attack mode.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause lost/ghost items in inventory when a pocketed item was moved around.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause items like pockets and pouches to appear on the ground when their parent was damaged/destroyed.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause the contents of pockets/pouches to be destroyed if the pocket parent was damaged.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause the Roster UI (and others) to briefly appear in background when opening/closing a control panel.
  

Probably one of the most visible changes in this update will be the damage colors on floors. Previously, all floors had a light damage color. And in most cases, this created a very intense mottled pattern on damaged floors, which could make it difficult to discern floor vs. other objects on the floor.

This update overhauls those damage colors so each floor type has its own color, and it is easier to see things on the floor when floors are damaged. Obviously, this makes wear & tear a little harder to see on a floor, but it's a case of finding the right compromise between recognizing damage vs. recognizing everything else.

Another big change is the ability to mute objectives and tutorials. Several players have asked for the ability to hide either tutorials, or all objectives. They can now do so via the Objectives UI in the PDA. Objectives are still created and visible in the PDA. They will just stop appearing in the main HUD while toggled off.

AI had several fixes and adjustments in this build, too. There were a few issues with AI in combat, either wrongly assessing targets, or miscalculating their faction effects when hitting a target. We also added some code to help them aid allies in combat before they take on a new target. Plus, a minor change to help AIs not suffocate when they take a nap while wearing a helmet.

We fixed a bug which prevented ordering or controlling crew that players hired. If this happened to you, re-hiring that crew should fix the issue.

Finally, several fixes were added for UI issues, stuck tooltips, and lost items in the inventory system.

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!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.11.0.0 is now available on Steam. Named "Pistols and Punches", this patch represents a major feature update, and includes a batch of new content plus new gameplay systems to explore.

This update focuses on adding personnel combat and its consequences into the game, which leverages the previously added injury and medical system more. It also significantly changes the HUD and user interface to make it easier to act on, and learn about, the game world.

[h2]For best results, you are encouraged to start a new character.[/h2]
Old saves will not work in v0.11.x and later. However, we have created a new opt-in branch on Steam called "legacy_10" if you wish to continue your current v0.10.x character. See Steam's Tech Support forums for more info on opting-into other branches.

• Added armed and unarmed combat maneuvers.
  
• Added defensive combat maneuvers like block and dodge.
  
• Added tackling and related moves like pull down and trip.
  
• Added firearms and ammo.
  
• Added bladed melee weapons.
  
• Added blunt melee weapons.
  
• Added moves to both demand and offer surrender.
  
• Added ability to request crew join fight against target.
  
• Changed clothes items to provide some armor.
  
• Added various new attack modes to most items.
  
• Added different amounts and types of damage to each attack mode.
  
• Changed traits and skills to impact combat effectiveness (e.g. Strong, Tough, Melee skills).
  
• Changed AI to fight back, flee, or surrender based on various morale factors.
  
• Added a medical kiosk offering supplies, first aid, and treatments for chronic ailments (on OKLG Commercial).
  

• Added right click selection of items and people.
  
• Added Quick Action Bar (QAB) for the selected item at the bottom of the screen.
  
• Added MegaTooltip (MTT) sidebar showing detailed info, lore, and status of the selected item/person.
  
• Changed inventory screen to be simpler and clearer.
  
• Added yellow glow to selected item.
  
• Added simplified item names at the cursor when hovering tiles.
  
• Added atmosphere readout at the cursor when hovering tiles.
  
• Added cycling through item layers with multiple right clicks.
  
• Added hotkey functionality for activating QAB actions (1-4).
  
• Added hotkey functionality for scrolling and expanding QAB list (5-7).
  
• Added filtering QAB list by action type (use, work, talk, fight).
  
• Added tooltips to QAB buttons and the conditions shown in MTT.
  
• Added unrevealed conditions to the MTT as ???s, so player can see how much they don't know about an NPC.
  
• Added an ! near NPCs that are awaiting a player's reply.
  
• Added a red line of arrows showing when a character is attacking another.
  
• Added hotkey “G” to toggle atmosphere readout.
  
• Added code to show a ~ next to the name if the item under a cursor is damaged.
  
• Changed visual definition of container inventory grids.
  
• Changed time controls and “Funds” button to top of screen.
  
• Changed objective UI to keep completed objectives in PDA.
  
• Added Auto Pause feature, which can be toggled via the button next to “Funds”.
  
• Added code to auto-pause the game if someone is about to attack player, if someone just finished asking player a question, or if player's current attack has finished.
  
• Changed objectives to hide everything except their target when mouse is over objective text.
  
• Removed old context menu.
  
• Removed top right item/pressure readout.
  
• Changed log to be in the bottom right.
  
• Removed PDA from HUD while in character creation.
  
• Removed social combat UI with all the emotional stat bars, as it confused many players.
  
• Removed rank and work status icons from next to player/crew.
  
• Removed floating name tags and action bubbles from next to humans.
  

• Added code to make some actions illegal (e.g. violence, sabotage).
  
• Changed K-Leg law enforcement to now apply wanted status for ignoring requests to dock.
  
• Added code to make witnesses report crimes.
  
• Added code to make officers arrest and/or attack wanted criminals.
  
• Added factions to characters, with standings towards other factions.
  
• Changed actions towards faction members and property to affect faction standing positively or negatively.
  
• Changed characters to now initiate violence if factional standing is low enough.
  
• Added local K-Leg pirate faction that hates everyone and attacks on sight.
  
• Changed derelicts to sometimes spawn with corpses, pirates, or others on board.
  

• Added lock hacking and factory reset so players can set new PIN numbers for doors and crates.
  
• Added a scrap kiosk and two NPC traders to the Flotilla, to make it a viable trading location if player becomes wanted on K-Leg.
  
• Added loading screen tips and tricks.
  
• Changed start tutorial so the conduit installation is optional, not required to proceed.
  
• Added airlock signage on K-Leg to help new players find their way.
  
• Changed combat-related traits and skills cost in character creation.
  
• Added performance improvements which should boost FPS for some users.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused NPCs to drag other NPCs or player around.
  
• Added code to make NPCs stop if player tries to talk to them as they are walking.
  
• Added code to make NPCs wait for a few seconds before doing other things if they are expecting the player to reply.
  
• Added ability for player and NPCs to have multiple conversations going at once.
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause AI to get stuck trying to do a job if they picked up too many scrap parts for the task.
  
• Added code to Fixer and Port Authority so player cannot immediately try again if they are kicked out.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused AI to pause too long between actions when player direct-ordered them to do something.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented pain from healing over time.
  
• Added code to make characters drop held items when knocked out.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented dragging corpses from one ship to another.
  
• Fixed a null that would occur when double clicking player portrait.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause NPCs to have barefoot status while wearing an EVA suit.
  
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused players to start with the wrong colored limbs for their torso.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused ship to redock when undocking if user double-clicked the clamps button.
  
• Fixed a bug in the trade UI that would report "Insufficient Funds" despite having enough.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented 1x1 racks from being uninstalled.
  
• Fixed brown floor bins installing into white ones.
  
• Fixed a null that could occur when dragging a human.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused paper doll items to not update when switching from crew to captain.
  
• Added code to improve pathfinding to moving targets.
  
• Added more debug commands to F3 debug console. Type "help" to see them.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the nav tutorial to get stuck after using transit.
  
• Fixed an exploit where the same object straddling two zones can be sold more than once.
  
• Fixed a crash that would occur when the player used an empty string as their name.
  
• Removed a glowing ghost item that sometimes appeared on ships.
  
• Fixed a bug that put empty bottles in a party supply reward cache.
  
• Fixed a bug that would delete inventory items when frequently moving them around.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused items to be lost when canceling an install.
  
• Fixed a bug that would destroy items if user swapped them in inventory and closed UI without placing them.
  
• Fixed a bug preventing the "wear clothes" objective from completing if player uses shift-click to don them.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed the player to buy a salvage license from the kiosk at infinite range.
  
• Fixed a bug in the purple jumpsuit gig that did not provide a purple jumpsuit.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused unconscious people to shout things when ship bumped or collided.
  

As you can see, this was a pretty big update! Not surprising, given that we added a combat system to a sim/builder game. Especially since it also required some rework on the HUD and user inputs.

Players of NEO Scavenger will probably feel pretty at home with the new combat system. It borrows a lot of DNA from NS, including how damage is handled, wounding, ranges, and the variety of moves.

And like NS, Ostranauts isn't a combat-focused game. Fights are usually grueling, and rarely is there a clear winner. Instead, cautious fighters are usually rewarded, and plan on nursing your wounds either way.

The HUD and user experience had quite an overhaul, too. And this was largely to accommodate the faster pace of actions in combat. Back when our most frequent actions were walking and uninstalling, the context menu worked fine.

But now that we are potentially clicking more frequently in a combat scenario, it was becoming too tedious to right click a target, choose that target from a radial, then find the move you wanted and click that. Over and over again for each punch.

So we tried a new approach that we're calling the Quick Action Bar (QAB). With it, you right click as you did before to choose a target. And based on what you targeted, a list of possible moves appears immediately at the bottom of the screen. You can click actions there to do them immediately, and the list remains on screen, so you don't have to re-select the target over and over each new action.

And since it can still be tedious to move your mouse down to the QAB over and over, we added hotkeys to the first 4 QAB actions in the list, plus a few more hotkeys to "page up" to the next 4, refresh, and expand the list to see more if there are many.

Generally, after testing, most of us felt it was an improvement in UX. We could click things in the world and use hotkeys much faster than navigating the old cascading context menu.

Another big change this update is the top right corner's so-called MegaTooltip (MTT). When you select a target, that MTT will show you just about everything you could know about the target.

And the old info we had up there listing items and their gas situation has been moved to a cluster around the mouse cursor. We found that we wanted that info near the cursor so we could see the data as we moved around, without having to look away from the cursor to see each new data point. (Note that the gas info near the cursor is only visible if dangerous by default, but the "G" hotkey will toggle it always-on.)

NPCs now care about certain crimes, and officers will attempt to arrest you if you are wanted. They might even attack you for more serious crimes. Similarly, certain actions (like violence or tampering with a space station) offend regular people, changing your faction status among them. Offend them too much, and strangers from that faction might attack you on sight!

Many other changes were included during this patch, as well. Players can now hack or factory reset locks on their doors and crates. Autopause helps manage the flow of time in time-sensitive moments like combat and high-stakes conversations. The inventory UI had a lot of work done to clean it up. And the starting tutorial was made to be friendlier to new users.

Not to mention the large list of bug fixes. It's been a busy couple of months!

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!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.10.2.8 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This is a hotfix to our recently released "Taking Inventory" update that fixes several bugs and issues reported by players. In particular, the tutorials and captain and crew AI, but also several other changes.

Saves from v0.10.0.0 and later should work. If you were experiencing issues in the older save, this patch may fix some, but others may persist depending on the cause.

• Added code to forbid NPCs/crew from initiating conversation with whomever the player is controlling, or anyone set to work/sleep right now.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused AI to immediately walk to install tile if a placeholder install was added to a tile.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused AI to pause for a moment when issuing direct order to install.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused AI to pause for a moment after finishing a task.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused AI to pause for a moment if direct order required fetching an item first.
  
• Removed idle crewmember notification icon from Roster PDA button, as it was mostly confusing new players.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented editing of some zones after they were created. (E.g. when zone owner was not ZonePlayer)
  
• Changed the zone UI to disable the zone owner column outside of ship editor, as it should always be set to ZonePlayer when player creates a zone.
  
• Fixed bug allowing non-awake people to make "Big Scare" barks.
  

• Changed objectives to remain on screen until either completed or dismissed by user.
  
• Changed objectives so clicking to dismiss them moves them to the PDA Goals screen.
  
• Changed objectives to start larger at the top of the screen, then move to the lower left, for reference.
  
• Changed the objective rollover to hide everything on the screen except the target, for easier spotting.
  
• Changed objectives to spawn over UI so they are not missed, and can be referred to while in ship control panels.
  
• Added code to print a message in the log when objective complete, and disable the animated complete objectives for now.
  
• Added the ability to see completed/abandoned objectives on the PDA Goals screen.
  
• Changed alarm objectives (proximity, pressure, etc.) to behave similar to the old system, but are shown separately and blink then disappear after a bit.
  
• Changed loose conduit to look more like installed conduit, to help with dorm tutorial legibility.
  
• Added code to show a hint arrow for the install conduit tutorial step.
  
• Added code to prevent using the zones UI before leaving the character creation dorm area the first time, since it confused new players.
  
• Added code to allow the user to override the zone UI warning in the dorm area when shift is held.
  
• Changed OKLG dorm locker from a 1x3 inventory grid to 3x1, so it's easier to see in UI.
  
• Changed OKLG dorm locker to spawn yellow shoes, instead of black, so they are easier to see.
  
• Changed OKLG dorm locker to spawn yellow coveralls, instead of random, so they are easier to see.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused shift+click on clothing to not finish clothing tutorial objective.
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause tutorial objectives to spawning on stale/deleted objects.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause nav station tutorial to target uninstalled/damaged nav stations in cargo hold.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause null exception if an objective's target was null.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause the nav tutorial for derelict docking to not complete if user saved game and reloaded before completing it.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused tutorial to stop prematurely if player uninstalls door instead of installing conduit.
  
• Fixed a bug that made objectives with long descriptions illegible at 720p.
  
• Fixed two typos in objectives: PowerVis spelling, and Clamp Engage button name.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented objective highlighting from working on human targets.
  

• Changed paper doll UI backpack and drag slot contrast to be brighter, for better legibility.
  
• Added price info to OKLG license kiosk's option to buy a license.
  
• Changed vomiting duration from 4 hours to 6 minutes.
  
• Changed CO2 Scrubber so it keeps up with 6 crew members, instead of 2.
  
• Changed effectiveness of wipes and water to be double, for cleansing hygiene faster.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused inventory item to become a ghost if attached to cursor in UI, the original spot was not valid placement, and then UI was closed.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused inventory item to become a ghost if it was attached to cursor in UI when swapped with a slotted item, and then UI was closed.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused debug respawn ship UI to show no ships.
  
• Fixed a null exception that would lock player out of most controls if they attempted to use transit while nav station tutorial was beginning.
  
• Fixed Halberd's Scrubber to always run without a CO2 sensor.
  
• Fixed missing button audio on character creation sink previous skin button.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some character creation sink arrows to remain after character creation when they shouldn't. (E.g. skin, eyes, facial features, etc.)
  
• Fixed typo causing purple jumpsuit gig not to spawn a purple jumpsuit in the gig locker
  
• Fixed several typos in gig text, dialogue options, and logging.
  
• Fixed bug allowing license purchase at infinite range from licensed kiosk
  
• Fixed atmo missing links to alarms on Bureaus, Mescaform, and Entrance
  
• Added missing cooler to Mescaform.
  
• Added enclosed dead ends behind doors on Mescaform.
  
• Added audio to some pants01 and T-shirts items that were missing it.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused used permits to not be allowed in hand slots.
  

Despite the term "hotfix," this turned out to be a pretty big patch! Mostly addressing issues players have noticed since 0.10.2.6.

One of the biggest things we worked on in this patch is the new player onboarding experience. There were several pitfalls in the opening tutorials that caused players to lose momentum and give up.

Which is a shame, because it seems like those who manage to get through it, really enjoy the rest of the game! (At least, until they have gigantic ships and need crew to help, which is another area we tried to improve in this patch.)

For the tutorials, we changed the way they appear, and leave them on-screen for the user to dismiss. Several users reported issues with even noticing them, and these two changes should help significantly.

Users can also see finished objectives in the PDA, now, which was another issue reported by those who wanted to see old ones for reference.

Furthermore, the starting dorm area on OKLG had some visual problems that prevented players from finding various objectives and completing them. We changed the objects in there to have better contrast with the surroundings, added better visual aids when using objectives to focus on the target, and even added some visual aids directing the user where to act.

Finally, there were several steps in the tutorial chain where the user could go off-script, and it would break the rest of the tutorials. We tried to add more safety nets here to catch the more common cases and keep the tutorials coming.

On to the AI and crew, we heard several complaints of the NPC crew constantly badgering the player while they were trying to do other things. So instead, we've turned off their ability to initiate conversations with the player for now.

You may also notice that direct ordering your captain to do complex tasks is smoother and faster now. We found and fixed several built-in delays to the way AI processed commands, meaning they should jump to it immediately, and not stand around thinking a few seconds first.

Beyond that, there was a long list of fixes and changes to the game in general. All of which are aimed to fix bugs players encountered, enable content that was not appearing before, or improving usability.

One very significant fix involves another cause of the "ghost item" inventory bug. We found and fixed two causes of this which stemmed from closing the UI while an item was attached to the cursor.

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!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.10.2.6 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This is a feature update to our recently released "Taking Inventory" update, and is a complete overhaul of the save system, tutorial system, and character creation process. It also improves piloting AI to avoid collisions better, among several other fixes.

Saves from v0.10.0.0 and later should work. If you were experiencing issues in the older save, this patch may fix some, but others may persist depending on the cause.

• Changed AI pilots to cause fewer collisions with the player.
  

• Changed game to start with character customization UI up. (Sink/Career)
  
• Changed starting spawn location to a dorm room on OKLG station.
  
• Changed Live Fast button to say Seek Adventure, to be clearer what it does.
  
• Added a new Seek Adventure random event about a poker game.
  
• Added code to career kiosk to show tooltip info in sidebar when mouse is over Live Fast and other choice buttons.
  
• Added code to age character 1 year if Seek Ship offer is refused.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused placeholder text to appear in career kiosk first page title/header bar.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the player's mother to always appear on OKLG.
  

• Changed the save system to allow any number of concurrent characters, instead of just 3.
  
• Changed the save UI to let the user see all possible saves, name their saves, load or delete them, and see a snapshot of where that save was made.
  
• Changed the save system to zip save folders, reducing save file sizes by 80-90%.
  
• Added the ability to change autosave frequency and max amount in the Options->General page.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause a null exception when loading save files.
  

• Changed beginning tutorial to be more comprehensive, including basic UI controls, item installation, and piloting.
  
• Changed objective pop-ups to have a solid background, for better legibility.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused objective targets to remain highlighted after the objective was removed.
  
• Added code to keep objective on screen a bit longer, proportional to how long the text is.
  

• Added several new zone categories to organize items.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented AI from hauling items to designated zones.
  
• Fixed damage shader on cigarettes and boxes so they don't become transparent.
  
• Fixed OKLG cigarette butts to spawn on the floor rather than stack inside the spawned boxes.
  
• Changed Search for Food action to only apply in installed, undamaged fridges and when actually hungry
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause null exceptions when starting a new game or continuing a save after dying.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented container grid from appearing if user shift-clicked an item in inventory UI and it slotted.
  
• Changed zones to have an owner (creator) and group (target).
  
• Added the ability to trigger a zone if the zone's owner or target ranks walks into it.
  
• Added the ability for trigger zones to execute several types of events, like launching encounters or applying interactions.
  
• Added the ability for a zone to delete itself upon trigger.
  
• Added column headers to zones UI, and made it a bit taller to see more rows.
  
• Fixed a bug in ship editor so zones UI draws over the ship editor name/model/year fields.
  
• Added code to optionally cue music by tag in interactions.
  

One of the more common complaints we've seen from players is that AI crashes into them too often. This typically happens when the player is in the path an AI wants to fly through.

This update adds code to the AI pilots to check for a clear path, and steer around the player if need be. And overall, this should reduce the number of AI-involved crashes the player experiences.

We also saw a number of issues reported with new players learning how the game works. The old tutorials had several gaps in them, and the character creation room players started in was a confusing concept.

This patch rewrites that entire process, starting players immediately in a GUI where they customize their characters (similar to how most other RPGs work). And once done, spawns them in a more logical setting: the dorm room they slept in on OKLG up until this point.

From there, the tutorial system guides new players through several core gameplay and UI concepts, from pausing/unpausing, through equipping items and installing equipment, to finally getting in the ship and flying it to a derelict.

Yet another major change in this update is a complete overhaul of the save system. Gone are the limited 3 save slots, in favor of unlimited saved characters. Each save game can be manually named by the player, and managed through a new save UI, which includes the ability to overwrite or delete old saves, as well as a snapshot of both their captain and the place where they last saved.

Furthermore, save files are now zipped, for an 80-90% file size reduction. And autosave frequency and max count can be adjusted in the Options screen.

Finally, there was a large list of fixes in this patch. Crew should now be able to use haul zones, zones have more customization options, and for modders, zones have some new tricks they can do.

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!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC