Ostranauts News

Hey Folks!

Still working on patch 0.6.2.3 here, which has a few deeper fixes taking longer than usual.

However, in the meantime, I've had several questions about where the game is going next. So I put this video together to help explain both the long term plans for the game, and what some of the earlier next steps might look like.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I'll let the video do the talking, and get back to coding. Talk to you all soon!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.6.2.2 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly. This patch addresses several construction bugs, adds save backups, plus some quality of life changes.

Specifically:

• Added code to backup previous save file as captain_name.bak before generating a new save file.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused canceled install jobs to leave items on ground that cannot be clicked.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented installs, uninstalls, and other actions from failing due to large target footprint.
  
• Fixed bug that interrupted installs of RCS distro and cluster objects.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented installing coolers, and other large objects.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused AI to stand around when it should be hauling parts to a repair/install job.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused item to become inaccessible if user attempted to pick it up without room in inventory.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused HVAC sensor connection to crash ship editor.
  
• Changed door power usage to be more in-line with other appliances.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused inventory grids for nearby items to close prematurely. Now should close only when walking away.
  
• Changed top right outliner text to put more permanent items near top of list.
  
• Added note to nav station cheat sheet mentioning auto-rotation-stabilize on Q/E keys.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused reactors to use reactant canisters from other ships.
  

Now the game will attempt to backup your save file before creating a new one, which should help in the (hopefully dwindling) cases where the app crashes during save, which previously deleted the old save data.

Several of the fixes address construction jobs and AI, and gets us really close to removing the major blockers to building and repairing. (Still a couple left that I am aware of, though.)

And finally, several smaller fixes and improvements added to smooth out gameplay where we could.

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 v0.6.2.1 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly. This patch address a mix of bugs and quality of life issues.

Specifically:

• Fixed a bug that caused player to get stranded after walking at 16x speed.
  
• Fixed a bug that left ghost items in inventory grid when moved from space to space.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented EVA battery control panel from showing true charge.
  
• Changed inventory screen to return item to origin if unable to be placed in grid.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused NPCs to be naked if game was saved more than once before visiting OKLG.
  
• Added progress bars to more player actions.
  
• Added custom width and height for inventory items. (Modder request.)
  
• Added required part amounts to tooltips.
  

The first fix alone (16x speed) might actually solve quite a few reported issues, given how it came up frequently, and in different places. And some of the inventory fixes should reduce the number of times the game gets stuck or glitched.

Plus, several of these fixes and additions should reduce the pain points when doing more common tasks in game.

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 v0.6.2.0 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly. This patch continues to address several of the bugs reported by players in the first couple of days playing.

Specifically:

• Fixed a bug that would cause game to crash, deleting the save file, if saved while in-game time was shortly after midnight.
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause AI to catastrophically ram player while docked.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some saves to corrupt due to bad pathfinding.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause crew to be in wrong position when ships were loaded.
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause mouse clicks to be ignored after connecting an appliance to a sensor.
  
• Changed nav and docking controls to use same hotkeys as camera controls (for better AZERTY keyboard support).
  
• Changed inventory UI to try and prevent grids from overlapping.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused application to crash if Esc hit while application was quitting.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause saves to be missing ship or planet metadata.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused context menu to be drawn in wrong place while in inventory UI.
  
• Removed R and F hotkeys from docking UI. Unnecessary (and created confusion).
  
• Changed container inventory grids to close when player walks away from them.
  
• Changed camera rotation controls to be debug commands.
  

Still a few big bugs addressed by this patch, though the fixes are starting to include smaller and smaller issues, as well as quality of life improvements. Plus, AZERTY keyboard support is finally starting to come in! Let us know if we've missed anything there.

We'll continue to be fixing bugs as they are reported, so please do keep us informed via the forums and Discord, as you have been! Your input has been a huge help in getting this thing spaceworthy, and I thank you for that. And for your patience.

Longer term, bug fixing will continue, and we'll also continue to include quality of life fixes, and occasionally new features. Including, when ready, a way for you to let us know which roadmap features are most important to you next.

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.6.1.9 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly. This patch continues to address several of the bugs reported by players in the first couple of days playing.

Specifically:

• Fixed a bug that would cause the game to misbehave if an objective was completed before it finished animating.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused player to get stuck in social UI after clicking destination on map.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused NPCs to walk onto player's ship when not part of crew.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused floors under exterior airlock to be irreplaceable.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused encumbrance to have different effects from one ship to another.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused Esc to make options menu reappear instead of escaping in-game quit menu.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused player to be stuck in welding animation after abandoning uninstall process.
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause EVA inventory grid to be obscured by other inventory grids.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused animation sparks to get stuck on player in some cases.

With this list of changes, I think we're now starting to get much more stable games. And we're also able to start mixing quality of life fixes in with the bug fixes.

We'll continue to be fixing bugs as they are reported, so please do keep us informed via the forums and Discord, as you have been! Your input has been a huge help in getting this thing spaceworthy, and I thank you for that. And for your patience.

Longer term, bug fixing will continue, and we'll also continue to include quality of life fixes, and occasionally new features. Including, when ready, a way for you to let us know which roadmap features are most important to you next.

In the meantime, we'll be taking a day or two to recharge, and we should be back at it on Monday.

Hope you all have a good weekend, and enjoy the patch!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC