Ostranauts News

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

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.6.4.2 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

We found one more cause of sudden air loss that we fixed. There's also a new turbo pump, and reversible air pump behaviors to use. Plus a bunch of UX improvements and bug fixes.

Specifically:

• Fixed a bug that caused ship rooms to suddenly evacuate when loading a save file.
  
• Added Exit button to main menu.
  
• Added new turbo air pump item to Ocelot airlock.
  
• Added turbo button to air pump controls. If enabled, pumps operate at significantly higher speed.
  
• Added reverse button to air pump controls. If enabled, pumps operate in reverse.
  
• Changed nav station to disable torch drive for now. Not fully working, and confuses new players.
  
• Added torch drive warning message to nav station when used.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused N2 and O2 sensors to always fail uninstallation.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented shift-clicking stack on floor from taking them when there's a full stack already in inventory.
  
• Added ability to drag from slot to grid and releasing to transfer item.
  
• Added ability to drag from one stack to other stack in same grid and then releasing to stack item.
  
• Added ability to shift-click slotted item to transfer it.
  
• Fixed an inventory null bug that would occur when swapping an item from the grid with a slotted item.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused face customization buttons to disappear at certain resolutions.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some crew progress bars not to show correctly.
  
• Added skills to list of traits that are revealed in social UI.
  
• Added social move to ask about career, and replies for each skill.
  
• Added code to exit socializing UI if there are no available options and Confirm is pressed.
  
• Added small light to batteries so they are easier to find in the dark.
  
• Fixed a bug in ModeSwitch that caused new items of different size to appear straddled across grid lines.
  
• Changed crew pathfinding to reduce chances of standing inside objects.
  
• Changed O2 sensor rate from 0.000866h to 0.000278h, so O2 sensor stops pumps sooner after good pressure reached.
  
• Changed pump control knob to use GUIPropMap for override on/off setting, so it would persist from template ships to actual ships.
  
• Changed GUIOrbitDraw cheat sheet to say verify nav mode instead of toggle, so it doesn't confuse new players into switching prematurely.
  
• Fixed missing sprite detail on RCS cluster loose.
  
• Removed unused sounds from EVA, drill, torch, and helmet COs.
  

One of the trickier fixes to make involved sudden air loss in rooms, especially when loading a save file. We found at least two causes of this bug that we were able to fix, and with luck, those are the last remaining cases. (Note that it may not fix old save files.)

There's also a new toy in this build: turbo air pumps. You'll find an example in the Ocelot's airlock, which can be used to manually evacuate the airlock's atmo into a storage canister. Also, all air pumps now support a reverse function, so you can reverse the flow via the control panel.

The main menu now has a dedicated exit button, in addition to the Esc key to quit. We also temporarily disabled the "Course Engage" button on the nav station due to the confusion it was causing. Until we get torch drive flight finished, it will show a warning when clicked.

The inventory UI had a bunch of new quality of life features added, making drag-drop, item swapping, and shift-click work in more cases. And crew progress bars should show up in more cases now.

You can also now ask NPCs what skills they have, and skills are now a thing you can see on character sheets. It's not finished yet, but it's a step towards hiring qualified personnel.

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 v0.6.4.1 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This patch is largely bug fixes, but also includes some improvements to character creation, including non-random face customization, and fewer career repeats.

Specifically:

• Added code to store oldest game version info in save and save info files.
  
• Added savegame version to save slot UI.
  
• Changed career kiosk to have fewer career event repeats.
  
• Changed career kiosk to avoid two ship rewards in a row.
  
• Changed sink face part buttons to cycle through list instead of randomly choosing from list.
  
• Added back and forward buttons to face part selector on sink UI.
  
• Added code to auto-reveal some traits if relationship added via character creation or interaction.
  
• Changed EVA suit to only pump player's CO2 when equipped.
  
• Changed EVA suit to only pump O2 and use power when equipped.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused relationship data to be lost during save/load.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused save system to break if captain's name contained certain forbidden symbols.
  
• Fixed a bug that could prevent saving if components inside repairable item were null.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused room tiles to change if game saved with exterior airlocks open vs. closed.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused PDA to leave a permanent blank screen over UI if PDA power soft button hit while game paused.
  
• Fixed a bug that didn't remove O2/N2 gases from ship when sold at refueling kiosk.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused item prices to be wrong in trade UI.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused phantom mass to be added to containers after a save load.
  
• Fixed bug that caused some traits to be incorrectly shown or hidden in social UI.
  
• Fixed bug that caused AIs to steal items from each other for each task.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused AI to claim failure due to no prying tool when they were really just too tired.
  
• Fixed bug that caused AI to sometimes unskillfully work when they were skilled.
  
• Added base price to crates.
  
• Fixed a bug that showed item price outside of trade UI.
  
• Fixed a bug that would skip generating data cards for locks inside containers when ship first spawned.
  
• Fixed a null bug that occurred when issuing an order to a non-pathfinding object.
  
• Fixed a bug that always generated a new person when new relationship added in interactions.
  
• Changed new relationship message to use friendly text instead of debug text.
  
• Changed installables to have both a CTUs and CTAllowUs to allow unskilled options to check for lack of skills.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause null exceptions when saving the game due to bad record-keeping of containers/lots/stacks.
  

Face customization should now be less of a chore, with per-part selection buttons that let you cycle back and forth through all options. The randomizer is still there if you prefer it, however.

Also, the career kiosk was changed to produce fewer repeats. There should now be more variety each career term before you see a repeat, and no more ship offers twice in a row!

Several trading UI fixes went in, including mass and price fixes for containers with items inside. Selling a crate or a drink pouch should reflect the item contents more accurately now, and stop mixing them up.

Socializing should also more reliably show revealed trait info now. Each starting relationship has some basic traits revealed, and each new interaction has a chance of revealing a related trait. Plus, relationship info will no longer disappear on save/load.

The EVA suit now now longer drains resources when unequipped :)

A number of other bug fixes and optimizations also went into this patch, to hopefully further make running the game smoother.

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