Ostranauts News

Hey Folks!

We're preparing our next big feature update for Ostranauts (v.0.7.0.1), and it's a pretty big one. We're pretty happy with how it's turning out, but we could use a hand stress-testing it for bugs and balance. So we're opening it up as an opt-in beta branch, for those who want a sneak preview.

Note: Saves created in this version may break as we fix issues.

If you've been waiting for missions to fly, now is your chance! Introducing: Gig Nexus, your one stop shop for buying and selling contract gigs in the Ostranauts universe.



Gig Nexus is a procedural job generation system that sends intrepid spacers out on unique missions, from recon jobs to item delivery and even, if you're feeling flirty,
Before we go live with the feature, though, we'd like to widen our test group to test it for crashes and save errors.

The bugs we’re on the look out for are specifically Out of Memory crashes, and File Saving failures. Truthfully, we can’t seem to reproduce them on our machines here at BBG HQ, and we’re not sure we have enough data to know how common they are, and what could be causing them.

That's where you come in! If you'd like to give it a go, opt-into the "public_test" beta branch via Steam and start a new character and save file.

To opt in to the beta:

• Right-click Ostranauts in Steam
  
• Choose Properties…
  
• Click BETAS
  
• Choose public_test
  

Your client should download and update your build within minutes.

Once you're in, take some gigs and let us know how it goes! Either on the Steam forums, or over at our Discord.

If you run into a crash in-game, or the game fails to save, we'd be interested in any data you can provide about how it happened. And if possible, we ask that you upload your save and any crash files somewhere for us to take a look.

To get your game’s save data, go into OPTIONS, FILES, and SAVES:



Your character’s save data will be in either Save1, Save2, or Save3 depending on the slot.

We would like as many of the following files as are present:

• saveInfo.json
  
• PlayerName.json (This will be different depending on your character’s name)
  
• output_log.txt
  
• error.log
  
• crash.dmp
  

The log and crash files above may only appear if your game crashes, and Unity detects it. You'll be presented with a dialog box asking if you want these files. But the first two save files will exist for any character you successfully saved.

(Also, unless we follow up asking for backups, please do not send any .bak files as these will be large and likely contain duplicate info we don't need).

Please zip all your files up and upload them as one .zip or .7z folder if possible, then send us a link to the file.
This makes it easier for us to keep related files together, and will make the overall size smaller. You might be able to upload directly on Discord.

If you have any trouble locating/sending files ask in the bugs channel and one of the dev team or mods may be able to offer assistance/alternative methods of submitting files. Thank you!

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.6.12.8 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This patch addressed a few older AI issues and annoyances, as well as a recent door bug.

Saves from 0.6.12.7 should work, but saves that previously experienced issues may continue to experience those issues, requiring starting a new game.

• Fixed a bug that caused airlock to not open when player attempted to manually open it.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused disgruntled employees of other companies to take it out on player, often interrupting them.
  
• Changed police ships to hover at a safe distance until player undocks, instead of bumping them occasionally.
  
• Fixed a bug that left boarding permission on police after they return to OKLG, causing them to visit player ship.
  
• Fixed bug that let player name drop Fixer to Fixer as a voucher.
  

There was a bug that could cause airlocks to ignore player input, trapping them on a ship. Usually caused by an NPC attempting to open a door as the ship undocked. And this should now be fixed.

NPCs also had a long-standing bug of taking out their frustrations specifically on the player, even when not on the player's crew. They should no longer regard the player as the "boss" in such cases.

Police flight AI should now loiter at a safer distance when waiting for the player to undock, resulting in fewer cases of being pushed out of the area.

Police AI also had their permissions updated to stop allowing them to casually board the player's ship when at K-Leg.

And finally, the Fixer no longer accepts themselves as a reference.

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 v0.6.12.7 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This patch is another hotfix for issues discovered in 0.6.12.4, specifically addressing the K-Leg license not working after the first one expires, adding the missing air vents to the PDA build menu, and some AI ship spawning tweaks.

Saves from 0.6.12.6 should work, but saves that previously experienced issues may continue to experience those issues, requiring starting a new game.

• Fixed a bug that caused captain to deny self permission at licensed trade kiosk because they felt bad.
  
• Changed AI ships to still be allowed spawning if player is currently docked to station or in one.
  
• Fixed a bug that would destroy all scavenger ships when loading a save file.
  
• Fixed a bug that would create new NPCs on K-Leg for scavenger ships instead of reusing old ones, resulting in population growth.
  
• Fixed a PDA build menu missing air vents.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused OKLG permit UI to change listed expiration hour during final hour.
  

The main fix here is for expiring K-Leg salvage licenses. Some players reported the first license working fine, but subsequent ones always failing. This appears to be due to the avatar feeling bad about succeeding in using the license before, so they were choosing to fail using the kiosk. The interaction for this has been fixed to force success if the license is valid.

The ticket's listed expiration time is now more accurate, as well. Showing minutes and seconds, instead of just hours.

The other major change is to the way AI ships spawn. There were some issues preventing them from spawning while the player was on-station. And another issue that would sometimes destroy them all if loading a save while on the station. Both of these issues have been fixed, as well as some tweaks to help prevent population explosions on OKLG. (Still work to do there, though.)

Finally, air vents were missing from the PDA's build menu, and have been added.

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 v0.6.12.6 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This patch is a hotfix for a few issues discovered in 0.6.12.4, specifically addressing transit not working, crashes while saving/loading on K-Leg, and a bug where captain ignored player input.

Saves from 0.6.12.4 likely still work, but if you encountered transit not working, it will continue to be broken in 0.6.12.6, requiring either restoring an earlier save backup, or a new game.

• Fixed a bug that would destroy K-Leg and/or make transit stop working if an NPC had a bad behavior info on them when it loaded or saved.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused save files to have bad helmet and space suit behaviors on NPCs.
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause PC to ignore player commands if already in the middle of a multi-step task, like walking somewhere to fix something.
  
• Fixed a bug that would crash the game if nav station was installed and used while on Mescaform or Old Emporium.
  

The big fix here is for the bug that caused people to get stranded on Mescaform or the Old Emporium. Unfortunately, people already stuck there cannot escape unless you revert to a save before you got stuck, as K-Leg was destroyed in those cases.

However, the bug that led to that destruction and broken transit is now fixed, so new games (and saves that haven't encountered the bug yet) should be safe.

There was also a fix for captains ignoring the player if the captain had a multi-step queue in progress (e.g. walking to an item and using/fixing it).

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 v0.6.12.4 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This patch improves AI handling of low O2 environments, adds the salvage license, new conversation options, some new content, background stars, and more!

Saves from 0.6.11.0 and earlier may still work, but it is recommended to start a new game.

• Added basic O2 survival skills to AI.
  
• Added code to AI to act if room is low O2, even if not yet asphyxiating.
  
• Added code to make AI seek space suit and helmet if it fails pathfinding due to airlocks and having no suit.
  
• Added pledge to equip helmet again after AI takes helmet off for breathing.
  
• Added code to reduce AIs chances of wandering into low O2 areas without a helmet.
  
• Added code to allow AIs to debark and open airlocks when addressing their own O2 survival, regardless of permissions.
  
• Added code to stop fast-forwarding if pressure suit helmet O2 alarm starts.
  

• Added OKLG salvage permit to game, and OKLG kiosk exclusively for permit.
  
• Added license info interaction to licensees kiosk on OKLG for info on how licenses work.
  
• Changed illegal salvage fine from $2000 to $15000 now that licenses are available.
  
• Added option to show salvage license to police when they board.
  

• Added air vents to most ship layouts.
  
• Added two new ship layouts.
  
• Added new social contacts UI to PDA.
  
• Added background stars.
  
• Added special conversations for enemies.
  
• Added code to make derelicts have better condition when player has had bad luck for a while.
  
• Added ability to open various game folders from the options menu.
  
• Added effects to drinking caffeine.
  
• Added more physical status effects to the list that is allowed to be seen on inventory UI screen.
  
• Changed locked crates to have better loot on average.
  

• Fixed a bug that could cause AIs to lose track of what they were doing, leaving them in endless animation loops.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused AI ships to constantly loiter outside OKLG and not fly anywhere.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused Mescaform intro encounter to get skipped.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused items picked up from ground in inventory to be unplaceable in same grid square.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented drop-swapping an item in the ground inventory window.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented relationships to develop into love affairs.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented relationships to develop into enemy.
  
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused disgruntled NPCs to lash out at player through walls and from far away.
  
• Added code to reduce framerate lagging when a large number of work tasks are assigned with a large number of spare parts involved.
  
• Changed air pump and air vent objects to always allow overlapping with other objects on intake and output sides.
  
• Changed doors to allow installation in places where either side of doorway has obstacles.
  
• Fixed closed doors having wrong z-height.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause null errors if police were tracking a target that gets destroyed.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed anyone to catch up with friend in police shakedown.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused Sample Text to appear if any NPCs spawned on a derelict.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused red footprints to appear on screen after loading save file.
  

One big change with this build is better AI handling of low O2 situations. They'll now do at least a minimum effort to preserve themselves when O2 gets low. This includes running for rooms that have O2, and finding a helmet and suit. They'll also seek out space suits if they intend to cross through low-O2 areas on their way to another task. And those already wearing a helmet will refresh the O2 inside it by taking it off when in a safe area.

We also added salvage licensing to OKLG, along with a Licensees Only kiosk for license holders. This kiosk buys all valuable salvage items 24/7 at rates slightly better than the usual supply kiosk (but still lower than the fixer). Licenses are $5000 per day, and can be purchased at the Licensees kiosk. Also, police will now fine you more for illegal salvage, but you can present your (valid) license to avoid the fine.

We also added a bunch of new stuff to the game! Air vents, caffeine effects, two new ship types, and better loot in locked crates. The options menu now has buttons to open various game folders. We have several new conversation options, especially for close relations and enemies.

Also, background stars! We are starting work on ways to show the environment the spaceship is in currently, and stars are our first test case. Expect more here as we refine it.

And finally, we have a new social contact UI on your PDA: Spacebook. It's a way to help you keep track of your friends (and enemies), where they are, and what they look like.

That, and a load of bug 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