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Ostranauts "Rate My Build" Update Is Live!

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.12.0.3 is now available on Steam. Named "Rate My Build", this patch represents a major feature update, and includes a batch of new content, plus new gameplay systems to explore.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

This update focuses on the ability to buy and sell ships, and enhancing the value of ships via improving their rating (a.k.a. "Ship Flipper"). A large slate of new ship items is included to help improve ship value and specialization.

What's more, this update coincides with a 20% discount off of Ostranauts during the Steam Summer Sale! So if you've been thinking about pulling the trigger on Ostranauts, this is a pretty good time. We even updated the store page and trailer, to show what's changed recently.



[h2]For best results, you are encouraged to start a new character.
[/h2]
Old saves will not work in v0.12.x and later. However, we have created a new opt-in branch on Steam called "legacy_11" if you wish to continue your current v0.11.x character. See Steam's Tech Support forums for more info on opting-into other branches.

  • Added the ability to legally own ships besides the starter ship.
  • Added a ship broker kiosk to legally buy and sell ships at OKLG Commercial district.
  • Added turn-key used ships to the ship broker kiosk.
  • Added derelict ships from the OKLG boneyard to the ship broker kiosk.
  • Added the ability to mortgage a new ship for as little as 50% down-payment.
  • Added feature to the ship broker to include all derelicts the player visited on the sale list.
  • Added feature to the ship broker to preview used ships before buying them.
  • Changed ship prices to be based on a combo of all installed parts, and other specialty rooms/equipment.
  • Changed nav station to show a temporary warning screen if user does not own the vessel, and is not crew of owner.
  • Added transponder rules to the game, requiring all vessels to have a working transponder and antenna to be legal.
  • Added code to make it harder for police to spot non-transponder ships at long range.
  • Added code to make police preferentially target non-transponder ships at short range.
  • Added code to make patrols mostly ignore scavengers with a valid license.
  • Added code to make police arrest people for stealing ships.
  • Added transponder controls to both the nav station's UI and transponder unit.
  • Changed nav station map to show transponder IDs instead of actual ship IDs (in case transponder doesn't match ship).
  • Added code to prevent docking clearance at fee-charging stations if ship has no transponder.
  • Added an official rating code to each ship, which help describe the type and state of a ship in a short string.
  • Added the ability to see a vessel's rating in the nav station Print Status screen, docking UI, and ship broker kiosk.
  • Added the ability to get an enhanced vessel rating from the ship broker kiosk, showing additional vessel classification info, and an spec sheet of the ship.
  • Added the ability to buy a replacement transponder from the ship broker kiosk.
  • Added a new ferry service to the PDA app list that transports the user to nearby stations and owned ships.
  • Added a new gig neXus job type that involves roughing-up a target.
  • Added a new gig neXus job type that involves investigating a body.
  • Added the ability to prepay mortgages in the FUNDS UI.
  • Added 6 new ships and some variants to game.
  • Added 5 new starter ships to career options.
  • Added food vendors with street food to OKLG Port and OKLG Mescaform maps.
  • Added new prepared meal options with comforting effects to food vendor carts.
  • Added new luxury wall lights that can be adjusted to different colors.
  • Added new manual entry hatch that can be installed to access areas without a door.
  • Added new transponder item, which has a high chance of becoming broken/invalidated when uninstalled.
  • Added new civilian and military transponder antennae.
  • Added O2 candle item.
  • Added new temporary wall seal item.
  • Added several new wall poster items.
  • Added several new installable floor styles.
  • Added new air vent type that will auto-close if unsafe O2 levels detected on either side.
  • Added new, smaller ship batteries with 1x2 and 1x1 tile footprints.
  • Added new alcove bed type to the game, which provides improved sleep benefits.
  • Added new medical bed type to the game, which provides improved healing rate.
  • Added a new smaller stool-like chair that can fit near tables.
  • Added a new passenger-vessel-style seat.
  • Added ability to sit in chairs for a slight security replenishment, at the cost of achievement.
  • Added the ability to (un)install and restore tables, jukeboxes, signs, TVs, and terminals.
  • Added new towing brace item, which installs over the docking ring to support towing other vessels.
  • Added actual ship damage for towing another vessel without a secured towing brace.
  • Added new Ossifex Pen item to help stave-off atrophy.
  • Added new treadmill exercise equipment, which can be used to stave-off atrophy and remove Unfit/gain Fit trait.
  • Added new FLEX exercise equipment, which can be used to stave-off atrophy and remove Feeble/gain Strong trait.
  • Added new toothbrush items, which can be used to improve hygiene.
  • Added new arcade game cabinet item, which can be used for recreational boosts.
  • Added a new switch panel to the game, letting the user remotely switch any number of objects on/off with logic gates.
  • Added the ability to watch TV, and switch channels from news to drama, for mood boosts.
  • Added the ability to change the song playing on a jukebox to one of three, or off.
  • Added the ability to admire posters, planters, and bartops.
  • Added a ferry kiosk to the game, found in the OKLG port area (replaces one refueling kiosk).
  • Adds a retail furnishings kiosk in the north part of Old Emporium. It sells but doesn't buy from the player.




  • Added code to reveal NPC info faster during conversations.
  • Added code to show GIG in front of gig-related moves.
  • Added code to autopause game when character finishes social move that has no replies.
  • Added code to make NPC renew waiting for player if player attempts to talk to them while they are walking, doing nothing, or waiting.
  • Added a named fine for failure to allow officer on board.
  • Added DOCK INFO page to docking menu, which shows info on docked ship.
  • Added transponder, antenna, and ship rating into to nav station status screen.
  • Added code to show brief connection message on docking UI.
  • Added code to alert the player via log message when their license causes patrol to leave them alone.
  • Added audio effect for when message log updates.
  • Added code to prevent audio clipping when colliding many times in close succession.
  • Added some code to improve game performance, particularly when loading/unloading ships.
  • Changed all action lists on items so Bash is not the first, and where possible, the order is more consistent.
  • Changed the action buttons to show Cancel Action move when player is currently doing an action, and disable other actions.
  • Changed the action buttons to show Wait for NPC Reply move when target is replying.
  • Changed police arrest encounter to teleport the player to the OKLG security office when done.
  • Changed min and max zoom amounts to be more reasonable.
  • Changed refueling and life support refill costs at port to be higher.
  • Changed police and scav ships to be reused after finishing a tour, instead of destroyed.
  • Changed floor bins to count as floors in the PDA job painting menu, so it isn't uninstalled with other non-floor equipment.
  • Changed the arrest encounter to allow paying the fines as a lump sum or in installments.
  • Changed the way police message the player when boarding so it's a bit more obvious.
  • Changed the OKLG scrap kiosk to have a more reliable amount of construction materials.
  • Changed police arrests and attacks to allow boarding player ship.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause an NPC to not reply to player when they should.
  • Fixed a bug that caused police to ask player why they were boarded while arresting them.
  • Fixed a bug that did not anger police if player undocked from them to run away.
  • Fixed a bug that caused action button tooltips to get stuck on screen.
  • Fixed a bug that caused honeypot stakes convo to get stuck waiting for an NPC who won't reply.
  • Fixed a bug that caused honepot extract move to have replies in gray text on the player's side of the log.
  • Fixed a bug that caused uninstalled items to disappear if there wasn't room for them.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the quick-action buttons for an item to not update when it mode switches (e.g. on/off, open/closed)
  • Fixed a bug that caused action buttons to not update when clicking an action.
  • Fixed a bug that caused a significant lag spike when removing wall pieces.
  • Fixed a bug that allowed stripping sleeping characters. Knocked-out characters can still be stripped.
  • Fixed a bug that caused player to be unable to access toilet, bed, and other teleport-required COs.
  • Fixed a bug that caused manually controlled PCs to wander off after using the toilet.
  • Fixed a bug that reported the incorrect value for Fines & Other Fees on the station refuel kiosk.
  • Fixed a bug that caused social combat UI to stop working if it was raised immediately before another UI and interrupted.
  • Fixed a bug that caused encounter UI to show zero options if UI raised while in another UI.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause the fixer to not see items in player's ship barter zone.
  • Fixed a bug that would spawn scavenger ships from one station, when the NPC piloting them was on another.
  • Fixed a bug that showed ship dimensions to extreme decimal places in nav station.
  • Fixed a bug that created several alerts/objectives for pressure and power on a newly docked derelict vessel.
  • Fixed a bug that caused cursor temperatures to show wrong value.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented cursor pressure/temp to show human/canister under cursor.
  • Fixed a bug that would cause some hostile actions to not be recorded against target faction.
  • Fixed a null exception that could occur if immediately docking after undocking.
  • Fixed a null exception that could occur when loading a ship from the ship editor.
  • Fixed a null exception that could happen when an item/person had an empty interaction.
  • Fixed a null exception that could happen when the pathfinder parent is null and we try to output its name.
  • Fixed missing tooltip text on some gig moves and conditions.
  • Fixed normal maps on floor label items.
  • Fixed missing normal maps on EVA suits.
  • Fixed missing description on several items.
  • Fixed several typos in game data jsons.
  • Fixed a bug that caused Seek Ship docked status to say undocked, despite starting docked.
  • Removed most cases of NPCs spawning on ships multiple AU away, which appear as targets in gig neXus.




  • Added new Interaction.strTeleportRegID field to allow interactions to teleport objUs.
  • Added JsonSpawnStation.strOwner and JsonSpawnDerelict.strOwner to define the faction owner of those spawned ship types.
  • Added a new param to let interactions launch a PDA UI instead of a normal full-screen one.
  • Changed the way ships are loaded in editor to avoid changing COIDs on each save/load.
  • Fixed a bug that caused ShipEditor lootspawner pspec dropdown to reset when hitting Save Ship.


One of the biggest changes this update is to ship ownership, and how ships are bought and sold. Previously, players would just roll up to any Ayotimiwa derelict and start moving in with their stuff.



Well, not anymore! There's a price and a process for that, and it starts with the new ship broker kiosk in K-Leg Commercial District. In it, you can peruse used and derelict ships for sale. Used ships can be mortgaged for as little as 50% down, while derelicts must be paid for wholesale. Buyers are encouraged to preview the ship before buying, as all sales are final, and it could be a bad deal.

If, on the other hand, you find a decent wreck out there with a reasonable sticker price, you can pay the ship broker to officially own it. Then, anything you do to improve it is yours to keep. You can use it as your own ship, or even sell the restored vessel back for a profit!

The ship broker also offers an important new service: replacement transponders. All vessels must now be fitted with a working transponder and antenna to be legal, and transponders cannot be easily removed from a vessel once installed. (Many derelicts will have broken or missing transponders, as a result.)



Flying without a transponder and antenna is a crime, as it can make your vessel hard to detect at long ranges, risking collisions with others. Police vessels close enough to detect a ship "flying dark" will be prosecuted!

Experienced players will also notice some significant changes to the action buttons. First of all, "Bash" is no longer the first option on any item. Most items now have a consistent action order, where possible. No more accidentally bashing or uninstalling something you meant to use!

The game will also now autopause for social moves, social moves will produce an audio cue, and the action button list will update in real time to show you if you are currently acting, or awaiting an NPC reply.

And speaking of replies, several NPC high-stakes conversations had some rework done to make them a little smoother and more reliable.

The revealed conditions on the target also now appear more quickly, making it easier to tell their mood when choosing your next move. These changes should hopefully help with the chaotic conversations of old, where both parties frequently got interrupted or overloaded with replies.



A new P.A.S.S. shuttle service was also added to the game, to help players get around without using a ship. Simply call a shuttle via your PDA or the kiosk at K-Leg Port to initiate a pick-up, and depending on how far away you are from port, a shuttle will arrive shortly, taking you to your destination (for a price).

Plus, we have a range of new items and ships in the games to try out. 5 new starting ships, plus several new ship variants were added, and over 40 new items to use and/or install. Things like decor items, furniture, emergency tools, and even exercise equipment! That last one is also our first test with tools that help you change your traits over time, removing negative traits like Feeble and Unfit, and possibly adding their positive counterparts. If this works well enough, we'll probably expand it to cover other traits, and possibly skills.

One other new item of note is the signal box. What started as a circuit-breaker-like item to control on/off states of distant objects evolved into the beginnings of a logic circuit tool. You can add any number of electronic items to the box to manually toggle them on/off, or all of them at once.



And you can even chain multiple signal boxes together, controlling their signal propagation timing and logic. We're looking forward to seeing what intrepid ship designers can do with this new tool!

And of course, bug fixes. Lots and lots of bug fixes. Too many to describe here, but have a look at the list above for details!

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

Ostranauts Hotfix Patch (0.11.0.10) Is Live!

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.11.0.10 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. Several of the fixes involve AI, and particularly police AI. It also includes a number of improvements to the UI for socializing with NPCs. Plus several bug 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.

  • Added the ability to preemptively surrender for any crimes to law enforcement and port authority agents, without requiring them to arrest/fight player first.
  • Fixed a bug that allowed traders to let you buy things from your own barter zones, which makes them disappear.
  • Fixed a bug that made AI unlikely to ever accept player surrender.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause police to stand around and not do anything for too long during a boarding event.
  • Fixed a bug that caused NPCs to walk off during conversations.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause officers to shout Hey criminal over and over at player after player surrendered in combat.
  • Fixed a bug that caused officers to not arrest a Public Enemy after they surrender.
  • Changed the name of certain social moves to mention whether they are GAMBIT or BASIC moves.
  • Added new info to tooltips for social moves that tells the user what a GAMBIT or BASIC move does.
  • Added new info to tooltips for social moves that tells the user what emotional effects it might have.
  • Added new info to tooltips for social moves that tells the user what emotional state is required for GAMBIT moves to work.
  • Changed the MegaTooltip "Stakes" section to more clearly tell the player which emotional states will fail the current conversation, if any.
  • Fixed a null exception that could occur during encounter screens, and could cause them to get stuck.
  • Fixed a bug that caused career UI to get stuck in some cases when a new player is choosing a ship.
  • Fixed a bug that caused Quick Action Button hotkeys to trigger while typing the name of a new save file.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause officers to ignore arrest warrants when in combat cooldown period.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause missing social moves for a while after surrendering to police.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause some attack moves to start when too far away from the target, and fail.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause an NPC's log message to be missing if it was broadcast to the room, but target was not in that same room.
  • Fixed a null exception that could cause saving the game to fail.
  • Fixed a bug that would cause an "Event Store Full" error due to too many low pressure/proximity alarm alerts.
  • Removed a debug text element that appeared in the top right corner, overlapping other UI elements.
  • Fixed several duplicate and missing data entries in game files.
  • Removed several parts of the code that generated unnecessary spam in the game's log files.


Several of the changes in this patch address issues with the AI. The police, in particular, were having trouble prioritizing their actions when boarding the player's vessel, and/or in situations where they had multiple directives to arrest, fight, and question a target.

This patch tries to clean up that behavior, plus several of the behaviors that would cause any AI to interrupt or abandon conversations.

Another significant series of AI fixes includes surrendering. Previously, it was impossible for an AI to accept player surrender in combat. And police AI might not acknowledge "Surrender to Officer" soon enough to be useful. Both of these have been addressed, and AIs should now be more willing to accept surrender, and honor it when done.

That, and AIs should once again be honoring the zones in the game. So no more AIs wandering in player ships or their dorms.

The UI also had a batch of work done to it, to help players better understand the situation during conversation. Especially high-stakes conversations, like police interrogation, gaining the fixer's trust, etc.



As you can see above, we now show much more info in the tooltip for social moves. On the left side of the image, it now shows which emotional states are required for the move to work or fail, if any. As well as the emotional impact of this move, if any.

It also now explains what a GAMBIT or BASIC move are, which are sort of like finishing moves and weak/unskilled moves in conversations, respectively.

The right hand side of the image shows a slight change to the "Stakes" section of the MegaTooltip. This area now uses more clear language about the emotional states that lead to failure, linking the stat names to the up and down arrows in the tooltip.

Hopefully, this info should restore some of the useful info that was lost when we removed the full-screen conversation UI.

And, of course, we included several bug fixes in this patch. Fixes for getting stuck in career generation, null exceptions, traders selling the player their own stuff, and even save games not working.

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

Ostranauts Hotfix Patch (0.11.0.7) Is Live!

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

Ostranauts Hotfix Patch (0.11.0.6) Is Live!

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

Ostranauts "Pistols & Punches" Update Is Live!

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