Ostranauts News

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

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.6.11.0 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This patch improves NPC ship spawning and flying to reduce the number of collisions and police interdictions, adds an intro conversation to the fixer, and fixes several bugs.

Saves from 0.6.10.0 and earlier should be compatible, but if you were seeing bugs or other issues in the old save, they may continue and it may be necessary to start a new game.

• Added intro conversation to OKLG fixer.
  
• Changed police interventions to be much less often.
  
• Added code to prevent NPC ships from undocking if player is very close to station.
  
• Changed NPC ship AI to fly away from OKLG a bit after undocking before turning to target.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause game to crash when loading a save file where game was saved shortly after midnight.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused Unconscious to remain on players if they were awakened by the First Untime encounter screen.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused OKLG boneyard to gradually drift away from OKLG.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused full stack of items over empty space to become glitched if player attempted to drop another ground item on them via inventory.
  
• Fixed a bug that could prevent player from installing items on a docked ship when standing very close to the edge between ships.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused game to crash if player ship was being tracked by police while it unloaded from scene (e.g. using transit).
  
• Added code to stop fast forwarding if important encounter screen appears.
  
• Fixed missing social item names in message log.
  
• Changed loose cooler item to be shallower, so it isn't as tall as a player avatar.
  

One of the bigger changes this patch is to NPC ships. The frequency of police stops should be much lower now. And ships won't undock from OKLG when you are very close to it. Also, NPC ships undocking from OKLG should fly out a while before turning, to reduce congestion near station.

The OKLG fixer now has an intro conversation in new games, which requires that you earn their trust before they begin trading with you.

Finally, a range of bugs were fixed in this build, many of which could cause corrupt saves or crashes. And one which caused every boneyard derelict visited by another ship to gradually drift away from OKLG.

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 v0.6.10.0 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This patch has several improvements to ship collisions and crew AI, some new content, and some significant bug fixes. It is also the first patch to use our new (and hopefully more useful/meaningful) version numbering system:

E.g. Version W.X.Y.Z, where:
W = Release Version, where 0 is Early Access, and 1 is released.
X = Major Version, changes when a significant milestone in the game's development.
Y = Feature Version, changes when a significant new feature is added.
Z = Hotfix Version, for each hotfix within a Feature Version.

And numbering of XYZ can now go beyond 0-9, such as in today's build!

Saves from 0.6.9.8 and earlier should be compatible, but if you were seeing bugs or other issues in the old save, they may continue and it may be necessary to start a new game.

• Added air vents to game.
  
• Added new encounter art to OKLG.
  
• Changed container pod starting ship to have no mortgage.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused crew to ignore tasks unless player manually assigned crew to do them.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused NPCs to forget actions they were doing between saves. E.g. police questioning
  
• Changed AI collisions to be less severe when player has recently undocked.
  
• Changed AI collisions to be less severe when player is docked to something.
  
• Changed AI collisions to be less severe when player is away from the nav station.
  
• Changed overall collision damage to be lower.
  
• Added more conversation options to police shakedown encounter.
  
• Changed versioning system to support multi-digit sub-versions.
  
• Added code to prevent docking with target in docking UI if another ship docks there first.
  
• Fixed a bug that would corrupt saves if a loot spawner had a missing count value.
  
• Added code to limit docking ships to player if loading a save file that has too many ships docked to player.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused NPCs from other ships in the system to sometimes load into the current scene and die when loading a save file.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some items to be inaccessible when over the reactor or other sight-blocking objects.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause null exception if hired crew was ordered to return to ship but lacked airlock permissions.
  
• Added log messages for items gained in an interaction.
  

We now have air vents! They allow air to pass between compartments without an open door. They're pretty basic right now, and have to be manually opened and closed. But as we learn more about how we want to use them, we can expand their features.

There's also some juicy new encounter art for your first visit to OKLG, if you want to see Charlie's latest work :)

Ship collisions got some major work done, which should hopefully reduce the severity of collision damage when caused by AI pilots. It's not fun to be obliterated when you didn't see them coming, so let us know if these changes help!

Similarly, crew AI had a bunch of work done, and they should once again tackle work tasks without you having to manually order them each time they finish one. They also once again remember what they were doing from save-to-save.

Also, the container pod starter ship has no mortgage anymore! While we get the economy to be better balanced, we thought we'd offer at least one chance to start the game without crushing (and mounting) debt. And it also takes us one step closer to having a range of choices in starting ships and scenarios, each with trade-offs.

Finally, a range of bugs were fixed in this build, many of which could cause corrupt saves or crashes.

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