Underspace News

Hello starchasers!
If you haven't seen it, we've announced our next big milestone update: Faces In The Fog. This is far larger than Gods & Corpses was, and has many new locations, quests, and features. We'll be sharing more detail on this as we get closer to its launch at the end of the summer.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Excited? My cat definitely is, considering she got so riled up she forgot she was a cat and decided to be a shoe.


For now, we've got a smaller patch today, so let's get into that.


Most of my time this week was spent working on content for FITF (as it shall be known), but we still have some small goodies.

NEW ACHIEVEMENTS

We've added several early-game achievements, intended to be unlocked in the first 1-2 hours of playtime.

NEW MINE GRAPHICS

Players have been asking to give various weapons their own unique weapon skins or projectile graphics. We're slowly working on that, starting with a rollout that gives each minelayer its own spin. The stats haven't changed, but many of the models, textures, and of course, colors, have.




[h2]NEW FEATURES[/h2]

• Several new low level, just-starting-out achievements have been added to the game. Get that dopamine, you.
  
• Player and NPC-launched mines now have more variety. Each variant of mine now has its own model, texture, and explosion animation.
  

[h2]CHANGES AND REBALANCES[/h2]

• Redid the lighting on some stations, in preparation for Faces In The Fog.
  
• You can now access a separate wreckage category within the storage UI.
  
• Ballden characters now talk alongside other quest characters, and there’s a small delay before their talking animation stops.
  
• You can now trade in ships even when your garage is full.
  
• The climactic fight in Mission 9 has been rebalanced slightly to give the main ship slightly less powerful guns, making it easier for players of that expected level to face it down.
  

[h2]FIXES[/h2]

• Retooled the ship in Problem with Automation to be a static that moves rather than a dynamic ship. Less neato, but I’m sick of having to fix this stupid thing.
  
• Fixed issue where firing while cloaking would lock your ship into a permanent firing state.
  
• Fixed issue where the scrollbar wouldn’t appear in the saving UI.
  
• Fixed issue where the navmap search after a certain amount of playtime would stop working.
  
• Fixed more misplaced or screwed up station geometry.
  
• Minefields (that is, static asteroid minefields) have been refactored to have better performance and less memory footprint.
  
• Fixed some minor issues with the modding menu system.
  

And that's all for this week. On a last note we're still working on controller and joystick support, but it's hard when SOMEONE insists on playing with the USB connector to your HOTAS.

Hello again, Starchasers. Good to see you. Because I DO see you. All of you.



Sorry, I meant this picture.



Good. Good.

I know you have a Steam summer sale to peruse (since you've all obviously already purchased Underspace for yourself, friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances, snarky rivals, sworn enemies, talking lobsters, and the like), so I'll make this quick:

Underspace's second major update, Faces in the Fog, is releasing this summer!

[h2]You can have a 20% discount for now, as a treat.[/h2]



More about Faces In The Fog:

Underspace’s next big roadmap update is coming this summer! With Faces In The Fog, prepare to embark on even more esoteric adventures into the abyss. Consort with giant lobster kings, speak to sentient stars, and indulge insane cosmic priests. With over fifteen new quests, as well as new areas, a new bounty hunting and wanted system, and new supercharged weaponry, this summer is about to get strange.

Check out this Underspace: Faces in the Fog trailer for more information:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Once again, this is not the list of ALL the updates you can expect on the following months; rather the biggest ones we will be focusing on.

We will obviously be improving all features of Underspace's base game (like we have been on a pretty much weekly basis) and, as always, we will continue to fix bugs and listen to suggestions from starchasers inside the Steam Discussions and the Underspace Discord server.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled cat.

Hello starchasers! Welcome back to Saturday. We've had a good week, hopefully you have too. What's that? You want a cat? Well alright.


Now that the important stuff is out of the way, let's get into this week's patch!


Here's a new thing we'll do each patch: A brief looksee at every new thing or big change added to the game.

[h2]NPC Drones[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
You're not the only one able to make use of friendbot now. His love is great enough to accommodate the whole galaxy. You'll sometimes come across NPCs making use of robotic drones and such in your travels. They can harass you and repair nearby allies, but fortunately they're pretty fragile.

[h2]Ace Large Ships[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Legendary enemies, eximus, elite enemies, whatever you want to call them. Previously only starfighters and freighters could make use of these abilities, but now large transports and tankers and the like can also be ace enemies. They also come with several new abilities, such as being able to fabricate proximity mines, greatly overclock their weapon speeds, or even more esoteric dangers like being possessed by the spirit of all-consuming hunger, or have their innards infested with mimics. Beware!

[h2]New Stationside Stuff[/h2]

As we prepare for our upcoming big roadmap update you'll find new things and new locations being added across the map, like certain Junktech offices or new vending machines that happily buy up your unwanted wrecked weapons. What are we cooking up? I mean... I detailed it in the roadmap. You read that, right?




[h2]NEW FEATURES[/h2]

• Added new some rooms to Junktech World Headquarters. What’s going on there, hmm?
  
• Added wreckage vendors across the galaxy. These will let you sell your unwanted wrecked items.
  
• NPCs can now use friendbots! Those equipped with them can send out a support drone that either slowly repairs damage dealt to them, or fires back at you while orbiting you. Take them out before they can cause any real trouble. Luckily, your scanner is good at tracking them.
  
• Previously ace enemies could not be large ships, but now that’s changed. Ships such as transports, tankers, gunboats, space trains, etc, can now be ace enemies and have new abilities, such as being outfitted as drone carriers, missile boats, or have an all-consuming maw that devours nearby ships to empower themselves. Watch out, and get those long range scanners ready!
  

[h2]CHANGES AND REBALANCES[/h2]

• Adjusted camera preview settings for Us freighters.
  
• Adjusted mission spawn points in Shipstar.
  
• The Loco Star now has an icon and can be fully customized in the ship customization menu! Also a few saving issues were fixed with it, and smoke will be less annoying when you’re flying it normally.
  

[h2]FIXES[/h2]

• Fixed issue where you could use weapon groups while in highengine.
  
• Fixed issue where cargo box hardpoints could cause UI issues in game.
  
• Added a storage terminal to the Master’s Ball.
  
• Took another crack and making sure the Overspace Transport in The Problem With Automation would properly follow its path.
  
• Fixed campaign softlock if you left Mission #2’s introduction early.
  
• Fixed issue where you couldn’t couldn’t comm the final signal node in Signal From Elsewhere.
  
• Fixed some internal targeting code that was making NPCs accidentally shoot themselves. Shhh. I won’t tell if you don’t.
  
• Fixed more duplication issues when loading a save.
  
• Fixed issue where player worth would be calculated incorrectly at points.
  

, Starchasers!

Yes, yes, you're here for the cats. I'm here for the cats. We're all here for the cats. Enjoy this cat.



hittin us with that ol razzle dazzle

I come bearing exciting news, Starchasers! You know how PC Gamer wrote this excellent article about us for their site?

Turns out they're also publishing an article on us in their August 2024 Issue (#398, UK Version)!

Not only that, we're listed on the front page!!1!



From what we can see it's a multi-page spread on Underspace, complete with our updated artwork (I swear it still has that new capsule art smell). I haven't seen any other print magazines on Underspace, but if they exist, let me know so I can make a big deal about those too.

Anyway, here's what they have to say for themselves:

"This month PC Gamer delivers world-exclusive access to Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, the incredibly desired new expansion to the award-winning action RPG. To do this, PC Gamer flies to Japan, visits FromSoftware's Tokyo studio, interviews Elden Ring's legendary creator Hidetaka Miyazaki, and goes hands-on with Shadow of the Erdtree for more than seven hours. It's a mega scoop, and your ultimate guide to all things Shadow of the Erdtree.

"This issue is loaded with quality previews and reviews, too, including going hands-on with the gore-filled new shooter, Killing Floor 3, dark co-op tactical survival game, The Forever Winter, innovative indie studio title, Screenbound, as well as Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, Underspace, and Sonokuni. Meanwhile, over in this issue's reviews section, the PC Gamer team delivers authoritative verdicts on dramatic space opera RTS, Homeworld 3, as well as MotoGP 24, V Rising, Hellbade 2: Senua's Saga, Indika, and Men of War II, among other games. Enjoy the issue!"

Now, back to your regularly scheduled cat.



there's a malaphor here somewhere

Hello starchasers! It's Saturday and we're back on that sweet sweet patch train.
Many of these bugs were found by you, our community starchasers, and many of these features or changes were also requested by them. We like to do that. Just like how my orange cat loves to sleep in my chair, no matter who might already be in it.



There's some very requested stuff here now, such as weapon grouping, a more dangerous Veil nebula, and more.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]




[h2]NEW FEATURES[/h2]

• You can now assign weapon groups to your weapons! You can do this in your inventory menu for any weapon that appears on the active equipment menu. There are four weapon groups in all.
  
• Strange things have been detected out in the depths of the Veil. Beware traveling through it now, as there be dragons in the deepest depths of space.
  

[h2]CHANGES AND REBALANCES[/h2]

• Buffed mining railguns.
  
• NPCs will not perform talking animations on very short dialogue pieces, to prevent weirdness.
  
• Added a shipdealer to Kalgrite.
  
• Autoturrets now have a maximum range of 1k on their guns.
  
• Storm hazards are now weighted towards hazards and anomalies you haven’t seen before. Note that this doesn’t apply retroactively.
  
• The Veiler tollway will not charge you if you are hostile to it.
  

[h2]FIXES[/h2]

• Added restrictions for where the Pin can be used and removed some unintended dungeon systems that could be jumped to with it.
  
• Wrecking Fields can now be docked with.
  
• Adjusted the coloring in Spreem’s nebulas.
  
• Optimized some distant points of interest in Spreem.
  
• Fixed issues where NPCs during “The Uprising” wouldn’t attack you.
  
• Fixed issue where some Steam achievements were unlocked early or not unlocked at all.
  
• FIxed issue where stations with train stations and shipyards would double up descriptions.
  
• Fixed various typos in tooltips.
  
• Fixed issue where rotating while docking would cause you to indefinitely rotate while on a station.
  
• Fixed issue with Nodeghost missions and similar big kill missions not completing.
  
• Fixed issue with Agricultural Guild elite missions not completing.
  
• Fixed issue where some patrolling battleships wouldn’t fight back.
  
• Fixed some broken tooltips in Pard-130.
  
• Smuggling circles can no longer fix your reputation with permanently hostile factions.
  
• Fixed issue during the end of the campaign where you could leave endgame areas early and objectives didn’t update.
  
• Fixed many floating geometries and furniture pieces in stations.
  
• Fixed issue where Off Track and other train travel events wouldn’t proc.
  
• Fixed some reputation issues for several Ballden factions that couldn’t have their reputations affected.