Underspace News

[p]Hello starchasers! What, did you think you'd never see me again? Did the Doubt Gnome whisper his foul magics in your ears and make you believe like this wasn't something that was gonna be pulled off?

Well, surprise! Multiplayer's here! Sort of. It's going quite well, actually. I guess you could say that the cat's out of the bag on how we're handling it.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]
Originally the plan was to make our multiplayer tests a closed, controlled beta. But, truth be told, I need data. I've got see how it runs, how badly it explodes, how much people can screw it up, if there's any balancing issues in PvP I can safely ignore because PvP balancing is for rubes, etc. We HAVE had some initial multiplayer tests for our private beta testing team, and things have been going great there.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]But now, we're opening it up to you, the community, as an opt-in beta branch. This beta branch contains the most up-to-date version of Underspace's multiplayer component, and is free for all owners of the game. To access it, simply navigate to Underspace -> Properties -> Game Versions & Betas and set your game version to the beta-testing branch.[/p][p]

However! It does come with some caveats. First, this is an early version of multiplayer, released primarily to test latency and connectivity issues. As such, many things are missing or not synchronized. This includes no synchronized NPCs, missions, quests, bosses, and of course, no multiplayer campaign. Most notably, there is no integration with Steam multiplayer and no server browser. Hosting a server and connecting to a server is done via direct IP address, and you will have to forward your ports to host said server (I recommend port 7777, by the way). I'll be publishing a more in-depth guide for direct server hosting and the differences between multiplayer and singleplayer soon.[/p][p][/p][p]That being said, plenty already exists in the game and (as far as we can tell) works! This includes, but is not limited to:
[/p]

• [p]Server hosting and dedicated server hosting tools with multiple options.[/p]
• [p]Synchronized player actions, including combat, movement, talking, etc.[/p]
• [p]The ability to play as multiple custom characters, including other races.[/p]
• [p]Full support for character customization across servers, including ship appearances, character appearances, and player housing.[/p]
• [p]Full support for mods, with servers able to set and enforce mod load orders.[/p]
• [p]Synchronized world states, including storms and player simulated dynamic economy (if the option is available).[/p]
• [p]Multiplayer exclusive gameplay, including the ability to pirate other players, group with other players, warp to other players, trading with other players, sacrificing, yourself for the greater good of your fellow players, and hosting house parties![/p]
• [p]And other stuff I'm probably forgetting.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]That's not all though. This beta branch also includes the usual smattering of bugfixes and QoL fixes (including some serious FPS improvements on lower end computers), and also mod support for factions, encounters, loadouts, new vanity items, new housing items, game races, abyss drive and fast travel settings, and more. I've also fixed mod issues where things like new equipment wasn't working, and also expanded the more esoteric things that equipment can do. Want a gun that fires money? A thruster powered by drugs? That's all possible now.[/p][p]This beta branch will, like our previous branches, will receive more regular updates. There'll be a delay as the branch first has to get past our private internal testers, but if you want to experience the current multiplayer paradigm, feel free to opt in.

That's all for now, have one more bag cat before you go, and this time, I'll actually see you out in space.[/p][p][/p]

[p]Hello starchasers! My two-week sabbatical is coming to a close, and there's been a few bugs unleashed by the last update (and the whole fundamental-change-to-our-entire-file-format) that required a fix or two. Since I was also able to finish up some other bits and features (some requested by modders hard at work replacing starships with anime girls), I decided to include those as well. However, you probably only care about the cat pictures, right? Right. Typical.[/p][p][/p][p]Satisfied? Now, let's get into the new stuff.[/p][p][/p][p]
[/p][h2]NEW FEATURES[/h2]

• [p]You can now sit in every chair on stations.[/p]
• [p]Mods can now load custom icons in via addresses (see the updated SDK guide for more information on this).[/p]
• [p]Added mod support for ships with animation trees (see the updated SDK guide for more information on this).[/p]
• [p]Mods can now load in custom keybinds, though you will still have to code your own code if you want to take advantage of those keybinds (see the updated SDK guide for more information on this).[/p]
• [p]Added mod support for ships with multiple submeshes (see the updated SDK guide for more information on this).[/p]
• [p]Dialogue history now records the choices you make in dialogue. [/p]
• [p]Added new decals for ancient races.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]CHANGES AND REBALANCES[/h2]

• [p]Added more sounds for storing items.[/p]
• [p]Optimized water graphics and added an option to disable water planes entirely.[/p]
• [p]Gave the Haywire Hulk some ambient noises.[/p]
• [p]You can now view (but not sell) your current ship’s stats at the shipdealer.[/p]
• [p]You can now buy equipment that you can’t equip, in case you want to like, store it or some shit.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]FIXES[/h2]

• [p]Fixed various mission issues and added checks to allow for more mission variety.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where cargo bay expansions wouldn’t have any stats.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where wrecked items couldn’t be pulled out of storage.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue with mod load orders where gameplay mods weren’t loading.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where NPC ships weren’t firing.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where the Haywire Hulk couldn’t sell sculptures.[/p]
• [p]Fixed floating NPCs and terminals in some stations.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some issues where audio parts on ships weren’t being affected by sound settings.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some UI issues in the records tab.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some issues with the opening cutscene.[/p]
• [p]Fixed text issues with the quest UI.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some animation errors with Ijuni characters.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]


[/p]

[p]Hello starchasers! It’s been a hot minute since the last patch announcement, hasn’t it. I’m sure the cats missed all of you, if they could understand such a concept.[/p][p][/p][p]When was the last mainline patch? September, was it? Jeez, that’s a lot of time. Obviously, our beta branch has been receiving a ton of updates, but this here mainline main branch update took a while to get anywhere, in no small part because there’s a lot of new pieces and a lot of writing that had to go into it. A lot of writing. God there was so much writing, it was probably the most miserable slog of work I’ve ever had to do; this game is honestly way too big. As big as my cat is getting, and he’s a big cat.[/p][p]But, that’s over and done with now! It’s the final hours of the year, so it’s time to get all the stuff that’s been cooked up out and into the wild. There is a lot to it. It’s not our biggest update (in terms of content), but it is our biggest update in terms of download size. If you read on, the reason for this will be quite clear. [/p][p]Finally, at the end of all these patch notes and such we’ve got the year end recap, so be sure to check that out as well. Let’s get into some update highlights! This is aiming to be our last large scale update before 1.0 hits: Smaller updates will still be here and there, mostly aiming for bugfixing and polish.[/p][p]

[/p][h2]Mod Support & Steam Workshop Integration[/h2][p]This is like, what, a 5gb download? 5.6gb? That’s a lot, ain’t it. You’ll notice the game’s gone up a bit in size. That’s because the entirety of the game’s internal file system has been redone to be far more data driven and modular. It’s a tradeoff, more or less, because as a benefit, you’ll see significantly less VRAM and RAM usage throughout the game (with some users reporting almost an increase by 40 FPS), but, and this is probably a bigger thing for you guys: We’ve greatly expanded mod support.[/p][p]
[/p][p]With this latest update, you can now add in new equipment, new ships, new cockpits, new items, as well as modify existing ships, items, as well as mod in new coded features, change aspects of star systems and bases, gameplay constants, and more. How do you do all this? Why, with our new Modding SDK! [/p][p][/p][p]Included with the latest patch of Underspace are two new important files: UnderspaceModdingSDK_v001.zip is the game’s first release of its modding editor. This is a Unity project that contains tools for creating new mods, several example prefabs of different items, as well as an included .pdf guide that contains the documentation of relevant assets and the process for creating new mods entirely. TestPlugin.zip is an included example plugin that contains the decrypted .json files that drive most of the game’s data: So station records, star system records, and ship records.[/p][p][/p][p]If you want even more examples to work with, I’ve also packed and uploaded the game’s various prefab files as an external download that you can import into the project to work with. Already I’ve seen beta testers making mods for this: Several are in the process of porting ships from… other games over, among other things. And I’m not done yet, because we’ve also got the Steam workshop fully integrated into the game.[/p][p][/p][p]That means one-click downloads for any mods, and all the nonsense that brings to the table. You can check that out, freely download new uploads, as well as upload mods of your own to the Workshop properly via the in-game, so check that out as well.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Talky & Texty [/h2][p]Text! Not everything has to contribute to the gameplay loop, you know. You ever play Morrowind with the Joy of Painting and Ultimate Fishing and maybe a sailing mod, where you just sit there painting sunsets, reading books, and eating whatever you caught? God that’s the life. That’s the life right there. Anyway, in the interest of fleshing out the game world but NOT adding full on new features I’ve done a huge pass on the game’s content and added a bunch of new little side-stories and folk to talk to and all that. Starting off, there’s a bunch of new in-game books to read: In-universe stories, historical texts, scientific documents, and more![/p][p]Next on the list are news stories! This is where the bulk of my time went, almost two solid months writing news story after news story after news story after… Sorry, it was pretty traumatizing, but there’s over 150 stations that have over 450 new news articles posted for players to read now.[/p][p]There’s also more codex entries! Kardoz now has specific thoughts on locations, party members, certain technologies, and more. As part of an overall pass on entries like that every single chapter, bounty, codex record, archived data, and similar have all got new icons and posters.[/p][p]Finally there’s a ton of new NPCs to talk to! Some are backer submitted starchasers, others are simply rumormongers or there to point you in the direction of nearby vignettes. Some flesh out the worldbuilding, and some are just there for fun. There’s over 40 new NPCs across the galaxy, and, as a further treat, there’s also a fair amount of new texture variety that’s been added to the game for all the major playable races.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Quest & Campaign Pass[/h2][p]Part of prepping the game for 1.0 means going over existing content and making sure it’s all nice and ship-shape, and seeing if there’s anywhere where it could be noticeably improved or fixed up. [/p][p]All the quests in the game, as well the game’s main campaign, have received a pass, adding things like additional sounds, music cues, lighting redoes, new attacks for minibosses, and more. Some have new cutscenes, or generally more elements to help them flow better, more appropriate rewards, etc.[/p][p]
[/p][h2]Quality of Life Features[/h2][p]There’s lots of smaller quality of life features with this patch too. Some big ones include a total redo of train travel: Wherein you’re able to travel from a train station to any other train station you’ve discovered, provided you, you know, afford it, but prices for train stations now fluctuate based on how much cargo you’re carrying, if there’s a storm in the system, and more.[/p][p]We’ve added new volume sliders for things like other ships engines (separating them out from the sound your ship makes, that is), UI sounds, etc. And then there’s a smattering of other changes: From more missions giving full mission markers to locations, a redo of piracy mechanics to make them more lucrative (and overhauling some of that comms system tech to allow for proper duels and such), new UI tabs on things like chapterhouses for finding proper archived data, and more. [/p][p]And that about covers it, let’s get into the patch notes![/p][p]
[/p][p] [/p][h2]NEW FEATURES[/h2]

• [p]Engine update! Which means tons of under the hood optimizations and improved rendering. Some people have reported a nearly 40 FPS increase, which is kind of nuts.[/p]
• [p]Added news stories to every single station. Please, god, never let me have to write this much again.[/p]
• [p]Added new readable books and in-universe short stories to various areas.[/p]
• [p]The regional UI in chapterhouses now show what hazards can be found in what region.[/p]
• [p]Added region monitoring to most starchasing centers and added the ability to spawn hyperstroms at Kalgrite.[/p]
• [p]Added more volume sliders to control NPC ship ambience and UI sounds.[/p]
• [p]Added a tribute shrine to Barrely Borbly.[/p]
• [p]Added mod support for items, equipment, star systems, station data, and ships. Ur welcome.[/p]
• [p]The game now comes with a zip that contains the game’s modding tools. Please, if you’re gonna make mods, read the damn manual. I won’t be holding your hand on this, you wanna swim in the deep end? Don’t expect water wings.[/p]
• [p]Added support for mods to instantiate new objects that can execute new scripts (provided you’ve given your plugin a .dll file to do so).[/p]
• [p]All storm hazards have proper icons for their scanned data.[/p]
• [p]All bounty posters now have proper unique icons for the posters.[/p]
• [p]All legendary ships now have proper scanned item data and display the matching shorthand name in their entry.[/p]
• [p]Starchasing chapters now have proper logos.[/p]
• [p]Added more texture variety to NPCs on stations.[/p]
• [p]All dialogue on stations now has proper animations and emotions when going through shit. You know how it is.[/p]
• [p]Added more animations for several talking cutscenes during quests.[/p]
• [p]Added codex records for party members, regions, and some additional technology.[/p]
• [p]Added proper icons for all codex records.[/p]
• [p]Added a TON (over 40+) new characters and people to talk to on stations. Some give rumors and point you towards bases and points of interest, some flesh out the lore, some are back-created starchasing chapter representatives. There’s a lot of folk here.[/p]
• [p]Added Steam Workshop support.[/p]
• [p]Added the ability to upload and tag mods to the Steam Workshop.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]CHANGES AND REBALANCES[/h2]

• [p]Added missing description to all regions.[/p]
• [p]Added new sound effects to the data center and added some sub-categories to better sort and keep track of things you’ve scanned.[/p]
• [p]Courier missions now route you to the courier station in question. Because using the search bar is too hard, apparently.[/p]
• [p]Rampage missions will now route you to the nearest location that that enemy type could be found, because god forbid you spend five seconds thinking about how to complete a mission instead of blindly following the all knowing orange marker. Praise be to the all knowing orange marker.[/p]
• [p]Added more bits to Gilliam’s Geysers.[/p]
• [p]Cleaned up stations of various duplicate details, helping with rendering issues (particularly in bars). [/p]
• [p]Jumpgates, lanelines, and jumpholes will no longer be targeted by the target-closest-enemy-key.[/p]
• [p]Train travel has been overhauled: You can fast travel to any train station you’ve discovered, but prices fluctuate on factors such as storms, if you’re carrying cargo, if they’re in the same region, etc. The functionality for the “show train route” button has been changed to simply display systems with train stations now.[/p]
• [p]Us Transports and Us transport turrets have been significantly buffed. Don’t mess with the Us.[/p]
• [p]Rebalanced the price of wrecked items so that they’d have more value if you chose not to repair them.[/p]
• [p]Refactored a huge amount of the game’s internal file structure, which means better performance (though you may notice some longer loading times) and less memory usage in exchange for a larger file size for the game overall.[/p]
• [p]Rebalanced some early game storm hazards to be more forgiving.[/p]
• [p]Sun volumetrics are now suppressed if the sun is not visible when outside of a nebula.[/p]
• [p]Shrank the size of wreck items on the navmap for better visibility.[/p]
• [p]Redid graphics for ambient star dust.[/p]
• [p]The storage UI now displays the count of wreckage items.[/p]
• [p]Changed closing animations for the comm window.[/p]
• [p]Rewrote some later tutorials to be simplified.[/p]
• [p]Three Scrappers and a Cube now has quest markers.[/p]
• [p]Scanned data is now sorted alphabetically. [/p]
• [p]Redid garage graphics slightly.[/p]
• [p]The in-game manual has been reworked to pull from game tutorials. [/p]
• [p]Decreased the amount of time before a volatile ace pilot explodes and increased the visual size of its effects.[/p]
• [p]Expanded some jumphole clearings in fields so that players wouldn’t spawn inside asteroids.[/p]
• [p]Trying to pirate a ship you’ve just pirated will cause that ship to turn hostile.[/p]
• [p]Increased the chance of pirating repair items off ships and made payouts for piracy slightly more random, as well as made both affected by the piracy skill.[/p]
• [p]NPCs will give proper reasons for denying a duel now.[/p]
• [p]Reach Station now comes with a free player home.[/p]
• [p]Added various small improvements to side quests: Such as sound cues, better failure-catch states, more graphical effects, improved miniboss encounters, and more.[/p]
• [p]Went back over parts of the campaign to refresh them, small graphical improvements, music cues, etc.[/p]
• [p]Added new cutscene elements to the main campaign.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]FIXES[/h2]

• [p]Fixed some softlocks during the campaign if cutscenes were interrupted.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some mislabeled NPCs on stations.[/p]
• [p]Fixed color icons not working when contextual color UIs were turned off.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where big kill solars were dying too early.[/p]
• [p]Fixed various typos.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where NPCs would be wearing clothes they weren’t meant to be wearing.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some mislabeled bits in Vauldwin police elite missions. [/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where the Overmind could SEE YOU everywhere, instead of just Macrovari space.[/p]
• [p]Fixed storms appearing during missions where they should not appear.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some texture errors when blowing up battleships.[/p]
• [p]Fixed mislabeled customization terminals.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some weird particle rendering errors from the port.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where highcruisers wouldn’t stop moving in combat and wouldn’t leave behind a sweet corpse with tons of epic loot.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some cancellation issues with mission waypoints. [/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where the escape key wouldn’t close keycode UIs.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some floating weird purple things on stations.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some floating doormarkers.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some clipping issues during Hard Business.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some jumphole spawning issues for campaign mission 11.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some animation errors in quest cutscenes.[/p]
• [p]Fixed broken fonts for alien dialogue.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some misplaced leaving nodes on stations.[/p]
• [p]Fixed several weapon cycling group issues.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where large ships following you could bump into you.[/p]
• [p]Fixed text issue on the cockpits for Sons fighters.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some importation errors on several skyboxes.[/p]
• [p]Fixed character save buttons being able to be reclicked.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where an open frienddrive couldn’t be closed by the tab wheel.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where planetary rings outside of nebulas would be visible within the nebula.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some rendering issues with laneline arrows.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where various places during the main campaign could be walked out of or wouldn’t reset properly.[/p]
• [p]Fixed small waypoint errors when traveling lanelines.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where reloading a save when in cockpit mode could cause brief visual weirdness.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where you couldn’t create waypoint to stations while on stations.[/p]
• [p]Fixed softlock during campaign mission 5 where you could prematurely leave the Axle.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where pirates would continue to demand cargo even when dead.[/p]
• [p]Fixed reloading issues related to assassination missions.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some small rendering issues.[/p]
• [p]Fixed pathing issues during duplicate missions. [/p]
• [p]Fixed some phantom settings that were appearing.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where out of system waypoints would clear when docking on a station.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue with the Us Corpse Collection mission.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where health wasn’t saving in quicksaves and autosaves.[/p]
• [p]Fixed camera issues with junktech ship cockpits.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some minor issues with on-station optimization tech (you wouldn’t notice it, but I did).[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where reloading a save when in a laneline would cause laneline sounds to persist.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where some records in the records tab wouldn’t display.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where damage calculations for hazards like radiation were completely wrong.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where some items that had no ammunition were meant to have ammunition.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where some icons would persist in a save reload.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where the Ship Carver could be crafted before the relevant quest was completed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where cycling weapon groups would deactivate heavy weapons and similar equipment types.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where jump-in sounds when traveling would occur too early. [/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where shields with no shield type wouldn’t take damage.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where several legendary effects weren’t working properly.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where large ships could kill themselves with their own missiles. Now, under normal circumstances large ships don’t use missiles, but. You know. Just in case.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where the key press time setting wasn’t working.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some overlapping UI elements in the information section of the starchasing UI.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some small issues with Priest Killer missions.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where readouts were no longer occurring on stations. [/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where Veilers had no emotions.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where leaving dialogue early would cause animation errors.[/p]
• [p]Fixed small cutscene issue where the cutscene wouldn’t set skybox settings properly.[/p]
• [p]Fixed saves not loading when quitting to the main menu due to bad resource allocation. [/p]
• [p]Fixed some visual issues on Planet Landings during the campaign.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where you could accidentally unbind the pause button.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some smaller damage fuse related issues.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Whew, that’s a lot of notes. We’re not done yet though. You’ve done real good, getting this far, so have some more cats. That’s why you come to these, isn’t it? The cats? Right. [/p][p] There you go, now let’s get into where things have been and where we’re going. [/p][p]
[/p][p]2025 was another big year for Underspace. I’m going to guess that’s going to happen a lot in a game like this; big years and all that. Unfortunately, we missed our original 1.0 release date window by a pretty wide margin, in no small part due to the fact that it’s still just me working on the game, and killing myself to get the game out in time is, fortunately, no longer an option. Still, at the same time we’ve gotten out two big milestone updates this year, which brought the game that much closer to release.[/p][p]This milestone update was, in fact, so dang huge it had to be split into two parts. The first bit, Intergalactic Architecture, saw the implementation of many of the game’s planets and explorable first person areas, including the game’s capital city the Axle, as well as many other in-game homeworlds. It also added new flyable ships, new quests, new dialogue, and more.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Our second major update, the Color Out Of Space, brought in a huge amount of player customization options. In addition to letting the player put in new custom content, we added tons of new character customization pieces, new planets to land on explore, and, most significantly, the ability to buy and decorate player houses, as well as do the same to any ship cockpit (and ship cockpits were properly implemented too, of course). There were also a smattering of other things like an in-game journal, map notes, and a detailing pass. [/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]Finally, I also managed to squeeze a whole engine update into the game, which massively increased framerates on a lot of computers, and opened up a whole new world of features that were, previously, more or less impossible due to the engine version we were stuck on. No more of that, anymore.[/p][p]
[/p][p]There’s now one final milestone update left before our 1.0 release: The Soulchaser Endeavor. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Effectively there’s only a few things left in that update before 1.0 is ready to be tested:[/p][p] [/p][p]Most of these tasks are comparatively small (though voice acting will take some time to get in, I’m in the process of wrangling actors and implementing that), but multiplayer, as always, stands as the big thing. Work on that stalled a bit following the engine update, as it required our background netcode (like the actual connect-disconnect-player-spawning stuff, not the top level code that linked this to gameplay mechanics, which remained the same) to be completely redone following our previous netcode becoming deprecated to the point of unusability. Luckily I was able to hash out some things with the multiplayer devs at Rockstar and get some good advice and takeaways from all that, so work on that is progressing. [/p][p]The content for it is implemented (though needs a pass and polish), but there’s a huge amount of additional concessions and considerations that have to be worked with now: Not the least of which is allowing servers to properly implement all that mod stuff and make sure nothing explodes. I’m aiming to have more on multiplayer in the coming months, with the beta branch being the primary source of updates there before 1.0’s big launch.[/p][p][/p][p]Otherwise, I’ll also be aiming to add additional mod support: .ini importation, adding new things to stations and star systems, adding new star systems and stations entirely, various smaller additions there to better optimize things in memory, etc. [/p][p]And that’s all! I need to take a long bath and a long break, but I’ll be back late next month with more beta branch updates and other stuff. As always, you can check out our Discord for more moment-to-moment news. I’ll leave you with a final cat-collage to close out the new year. Here’s to a particularly spacey 2026![/p][p]
[/p]

[p]Hello starchasers! No, this isn't the talky patch I've talked about, but there is news and a new opportunity for those willing to try it out. You want cat photos first? Alright, fine.[/p][p][/p][p]Okay, got your fill? Onto more important matters! [/p][p][/p][p]I spoke briefly on establishing a pre-update beta branch for the game, which is now available! This beta branch updates more frequently with far more unstable updates, and is mostly intended for testers and myself. That being said, because there's no real harm in it I've opened the beta testing branch up for everyone to experience.[/p][p]To download this branch, you need to open up your game's properties -> betas -> and then opt into the new testing beta branch under beta participation. [/p][p][/p][p]The subsequent download may be sort of big, as a bunch of internal stuff changed (read on to find out what I'm talking about.)[/p][p][/p][p]The big news with this beta branch is that our game engine (Unity, if you couldn't tell from the godawful performance) has been updated to a much much later edition and away from the extremely dated version we've been stuck on since for years. With the help of some professional devs from another studio, we were finally able to update it to something much more modern. This brings with it a whooooole host of internal changes. Right now, those opted into the beta branch should notice across the board performance improvements, the end of flickering shadows and improved shadow fidelity, and a few other smaller graphical changes.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Going forward this engine update will allow us to take advantage of a lot of features that were previously out of reach, including enhanced mod support (which will be far less hacky), even more performance and memory improvements, etc, etc. I aim for semi-weekly pushes to this beta branch in between major public facing updates, so if you want to see the latest stuff being worked on, I recommend opting into the beta branch. Just be aware that it IS a beta branch, so issues are to be expected.[/p][p][/p][p]And that's all for now! Just wanted to make people aware of exciting new things.[/p][p][/p]

[p]Welcome to September, starchasers! Now we all know it's about three days until that Bug Game releases, so all of us, myself included, probably don't give two rocks of an Ast's wing-thingies about any sort of other games at the moment, but that won't stop me from putting out this patch so I won't have any more obligations hanging over me.[/p][p]
Well, minus any obligations to the furry screaming things I let live in my house.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Some news about stuff that's currently happening, yeah? We've got a sale going on right now, which makes it a perfect time to jump in and complain about the lack of voice acting! Don't worry, it's coming eventually. Sadly, a lot of time was spent this month on some engine updates that, long story short, didn't pan out.[/p][p][/p][p]For those users who have the game on GOG, you may have noticed that the game often lags behind on updates there. This isn't by my own choice; GOG's updates were previous handled by a third party. But, after some arm twisting and chair-kicking, I now have access to the build tools for that branch of the game, which means it'll get updates far faster.[/p][p][/p][p]Next up, future stuff! Our next milestone update is our 1.0 launch release: The Soulchaser Conspiracy. The big thing with this one is multiplayer, along with freeplay mode, a second main campaign to follow, and the ability to play as a custom character from any of the four main Union races. I'll share a few tidbits and concepts from that update, with zero actual context.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Now, TSC's launch window is... ambiguous. This is a monumentally enormous update, and there has to be a lot of internal testing before it can come in. Before 1.0 officially launches I'll be running a closed beta followed by an open beta of all the multiplayer stuff. When we get closer to that I'll be doing an announcement about it.[/p][p][/p][p]Now before that happens there's one last intermediary update we'll be doing. I call this one the Talky Texty Dialoguey Thingy Update, and the focus with it is on getting the last few bits of unrelated text-related content out. This means filling out all the news stories on stations, adding in some more NPCs to talk to (that aren't tied to quests) and listen in on, a few books to read, and passing over quests and the campaign to make them either flow better or have some small visual improvements here and there. Also the ability to sit in chairs.[/p][p][/p][p]Now past that, and, barring bugfixes, most of the game is now in what I'd consider to be a finalized state. Graphics, gameplay, balance, content, all of that is to a point where I'm happy with it. [/p][p][/p][p]Alright, onto what you've actually been waiting for: The update.[/p][p][/p][h2]Visual and Detailing Reworks[/h2][p]A bunch of time this month was spent on going back over existing content and giving lots of places, space and station, a nice tuneup. Starting off, the Veil received a visual rework to better sell the idea that you are, in fact, in space hell.[/p][p][/p][p]Many planets got a little treat: a mooring space elevator so that big ships no longer take up space in the docking ring queue.[/p][p][/p][p]Next update: space stations! Every space station now has ambient NPCs, a pass for lighting, optimizations, and ships in their landing bays, and of course service NPCs with actual models and names (rip to my man Barrely Borbly, but your death was well overdue).[/p][p][/p][p]Time for the full changelog![/p][p][/p][p]
[/p][h2]NEW FEATURES[/h2]

• [p]The Veil’s received a minor visual facelift in preparation for its multiplayer aspects: It’s far darker and spookier now, as befitting an uncrossable space hell.[/p]
• [p]Docking rings for planets now have space elevators for larger ships.[/p]
• [p]All stations now have received a major detailing pass! This means docks have fighters, people milling about, and every station now has named traders, equipment dealers, shipwrights, and more.
  Service NPCs on stations now have more variety and ambient NPCs will often match the owning faction of the station.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]CHANGES AND REBALANCES[/h2]

• [p]Exit doors will now stay open if you’re stuck inside an exit bay. No more softlocks for you, buddy.[/p]
• [p]Long Legacies’ later stage quest bits will lead you to the courier ship directly, instead of Kidenstat.[/p]
• [p]Trading in ships now considers the flat value of items, instead of adjusted price values, preventing exploits.[/p]
• [p]The Grand Telemite Shipyard now sells corporate fighters and freighters.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted the lighting of many many stations, often so that the ambient lighting would match the sunlight outside.[/p]
• [p]Performed mild optimizations and cleanup of every station in game.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]FIXES[/h2]

• [p]Fixed issue with the Junktech Freighter’s engines visually.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where some large solars wouldn’t die and wouldn’t put down explosive effects.[/p]
• [p]Decals and paintjobs with the same filenames won’t conflict anymore.[/p]
• [p]Fixed decal and decal camera issues for Washer fighters, corp fighters, the Champ’s racing ship, and the Rival fighter.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where Mama Mine would get really mad if you used hypercharged webbing on her.[/p]
• [p]Bastic’s Rustlord minefield [/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where the game wouldn’t remember saved paintjobs.[/p]
• [p]Fixed graphical issues with held key presses and images that indicated if they were held.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where NPCs would keep contacting you for quest finales.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where Dynamos wouldn’t disappear while cloaked.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where your onboard narrator would think you were entering a sun corona too early.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some map scaling issues for Fhedden Delta.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where combat would interrupt dialogue during The Bigger Picture.[/p]
• [p]Fixed rendering issues with random Macrovari characters.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where some paintjobs weren’t dropping.[/p]

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