Ostranauts News

EDIT: Here's a link to the stream recorded: [previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The Blue Bottle Games Dev Team Will Be Streaming Ostranauts Over On Steam Today at 6pm GMT!

We'll have Dan Fedor (Founder of BBG and main developer), Corey Waite (Writer), Chris (Designer and Programmer) and Charis Reid (Community Manager)

We're going to be building a ship together using the features in the latest big update, talking about the lore behind the brands you see in-game, whilst taking suggestions and questions from the chat! Come join us!

We haven't done a stream like this before, so go easy on us. We'll be live on the Ostranauts Steam Page.

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.6.4.8 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

Mostly bug fixes and quality of life improvements in the wake of the big 0.6.4.7 patch, but still worth getting out to you sooner than later!

Specifically:

• Fixed a bug that could cause multi-square items to disappear.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused nav station to freeze in RCS mode if Q or E keys were remapped.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented the loose fridge from dropping to the ground.
  
• Added new contact portraits to career sidebar.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused inventory UI to not update when switching between crew members.
  
• Changed Bursting to Sick Stomach so it would be clearer.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused more loot to spawn in containers than could normally fit there.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused context menu to stop working if player ate food while in trade UI.
  
• Changed no clearance on docking UI to only appear when clicking clamp.
  
• Fixed bug that stops career sidebar from auto-scrolling.
  
• Changed career sidebar to only show cash rewards if greater than $0.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused career sidebar to show unfinished career events.
  
• Changed data card item names to be clearer.
  
• Fixed missing friendly name on loose power switch and reactor.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused player stats to appear twice in mouseover tooltip.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause loot to spawn one more than max due to float vs. int comparison.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused game exit to be affected by game speed.
  

Several inventory fixes are included this time, that should hopefully make the UI more reliable. There are still a few known issues with it that we're working on, but this should solve some of the more common and serious issues.

Also, a pretty serious bug with keybinding in the nav console has been fixed.

There were also a number of changes to improve clarity in the game, from item object names to warning message changes.

The career kiosk, in particular, had some work done to make the sidebar more useful and interesting. Including new contact portraits! Now you can see who you met during each career event, so you can recognize them later.

Finally, there were a series of fixes to loot spawning and other issues.

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 v0.6.4.7 is now available on Steam, and make way! She's carrying a heavy load.

We have new derelicts to explore, new decor styles, new items to discover. We now have an in-game manual! More quality-of-life enhancements for piloting and inventory management. Plus fixes and more!

Since the list is extra long this patch, I've broken it into sections.

New Stuff

• Added new floor and wall styles.
  
• Added new derelicts to explore.
  
• Added anti nausea pills to game.
  
• Added Bismertnaya vodka bottle to game.
  
• Added the Kang 2202, which is now the more common RCS distributor on ships.
  

Manual

• Added user manual to main menu.
  
• Added user manual to in-game quit menu.
  
• Added ability to read hull patch box.
  
• Added nav console manual item to game.
  
• Added nav console manual item to tutorial salvage pod.
  
• Added Ogiso's Register safety poster and loose paper to game.
  

Nav Console

• Added ability to stabilize ship rotation if both Q and E held at same time.
  
• Added +/- and Q+E buttons to cluster under nav console screen, for controlling map zoom and rotation stabilization via buttons.
  
• Added code to make RNG value blink red when within 5km.
  
• Changed VREL value in docking screen to blink red when too fast.
  
• Changed nav console WASD to allow offset from follow point when map set to follow ship/target.
  
• Added red vector to show external gravity direction.
  
• Changed nav console to only draw orange course line if autopilot has a destination set.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused button cluster under nav console screen to do nothing in map control mode.
  
• Changed nav station anomalies to scale similar to stations, so crosshair doesn't disappear inside at high zoom levels.
  
• Fixed a bug in nav console that caused target to change when clicking note out of the way.
  

Chargen

• Added Miura RCS distributor as loot for rare salvage life event.
  
• Changed shipbreaker starting equipment to include laser torch and lamp.
  
• Changed makeshift salvage pod life event to actually give crappy salvage pod. (And never to first-time players.)
  
• Changed chargen launch UI to warn user about last chances to suit-up before starting game.
  

Inventory

• Changed containers to have optional x and y size.
  
• Added code to make right-click drop a single CO from dragged stacks in inventory.
  
• Added stack counter to items slotted in paper doll.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented swapping inventory items with those on the ground.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused inventory items to disappear if user drops item on the ground where only partial space exists.
  
• Changed inventory to not drop item on ground if user clicks a impossible grid spot.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented moving an item directly from a slot to a stack.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused stacks to break on save/load if they were in a slot.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed items to be slotted in wrong slots.
  
• Fixed bug that caused inventory not to appear when clicking portrait at certain resolutions.
  
• Changed social moves and pledges to stack.
  

Ship Editor

• Added draw and fill buttons to ship edit, to control brush behavior.
  
• Added buttons to ShipEdit for replacing selected walls/floors with cursor.
  
• Added eyedropper in ship edit mode using left alt key.
  
• Changed ship edit's quick CO list to have more commonly-used items.
  
• Added some commonly-used options to top of ShipEdit filter list.
  
• Fixed bug that caused WASD and other hotkeys to work while typing ship metadata in editor.
  
• Changed max and min zoom to be greater in ship edit mode.
  

Plus

• Fixed a bug that caused OKLG airlock to become impassable and to vent atmo if player saved and quit more than once and changed ships between visits.
  
• Fixed a bug that made it difficult to see item placement when installing it in the dark.
  
• Changed air pump to allow accessing controls from either side of unit.
  
• Fixed bug that causes loose turbo pump to be missing install option.
  
• Changed all ships to have chance of spare floor and wall parts to match their new floors and walls.
  
• Fixed bug that caused context menu z-depth sort order to be wrong.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused placeholder objects to show wrong sprite when placed.
  
• Changed crew to have smaller hitbox, so it gets stuck less.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused career kiosk title to overlap nearby elements at lower resolutions.
  
• Changed all wall and floor names to precede with object type, followed by brand and model.
  
• Changed police ship names to be more police-y.
  
• Changed Muira RCS distributor placement to allow more items around it.
  
• Added container property to crates, so AI would look in them for food.
  
• Fixed chargen station's ship name when spawned.
  
• Removed ItmWall1x1_02 from game. Unused.
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause null exception if initializing a ship with objects that had bogus gui prop map.
  
• Changed generic floor and wall installables to be headless, so they no longer appear as in-game options.
  
• Changed Fridge to have smaller storage space.
  
• Added scrollview to job options, to accommodate more items.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused null exception if opening control panel on deleted object in ship editor.
  
• Removed shadow casters from fridge and toilet.
  
• Removed shadow boxes from fuel canisters so they can be seen and manipulated in inventory.
  

This patch took a bit longer than most, and you're probably starting to get an idea of why :)

A lot of the previous patches have been kind of "boring" since they involved a lot of fixes and improvements to existing stuff. So we thought we'd take a bit of a side trip to add more fun stuff to play with.

We still have plenty of work left to do on features and fixes, but we hope you enjoy the care package!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

Hello there!

We have previously shared the Ostranauts player-driven roadmap with the community on Steam (in fact, you've probably taken part in the feature voting!). However, newer players may not have seen this. We wanted to make a post with all the up to date information so you can be aware of what to expect, what we're currently working on and why.

This is Ostranauts player-driven roadmap for the next approximate 2 years of early access of the game:



We're using an in-game voting system where early access players are able to vote on what upcoming features should be prioritised.



We held the first vote in November 2020 and 'That's An Order' came out on top. Players voted for us to focus on improving crew management, which is what we've been working on across the game updates since (...well that and quite a few other things too!)

There's a lot that people want to see in the game, so here's an FAQ for planned features:



If you want to hear more about this in-depth, Dan has covered it all in this video.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Thanks all! Have a great weekend.

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.6.4.3 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This one's a short list, but had some worthwhile fixes we wanted to get to you asap.

Specifically:

• Fixed a bug that caused pathfinding to get stuck around certain items like unpowered lights.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused saving game to fail if placeholder item was missing data. Save will now omit said item.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused saving game to fail if a container had bad stacking info on contained items.
  
• Added code to remember item placement in inventory grids.
  

The main reason for the quick patch today was a pathfinding bug that caused crew to get stuck on things like unpowered lights. In some situations, this would almost completely stop a crew member from walking through airlocks due to light hitboxes creating a narrow passage.

Crew should get around more smoothly now.

We also saw a few crashes occur when players attempted to save games with some bad data present. We've added some code so these games can be saved again, while we work on a more permanent fix.

Finally, inventory items should now stay in the same grid square when you close and reopen the inventory UI. So go ahead and organize items to your heart's content. They should still be where you left them next time!

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