Hardspace: Shipbreaker News

0.5.0 Hotfix - HAB UI Screen Effects Toggle

Hello Shipbreakers!

As always, a massive thank you to everyone who jumped in to play the 0.5.0 update! In particular, thank you to the Players who took the time to provide us with detailed and constructive feedback on the update. We always take some time to watch how our updates go. Members of our team hang out in streams, on our Discord, or lurk in the Steam forums to make sure we are hearing / seeing your initial reactions to the latest update.

We love that the overwhelming response is that folks are enjoying the new challenge that Radiation brings, the cool “holo” stickers, and the visual overhaul of the HAB interface! However, there’s two consistent pieces of feedback on the HAB that we felt were important to address:

There’s a drop in visual quality and readability of the HAB UI
Loss of the visually interesting background; it’s just a black screen now

Let’s start with visual quality and readability. This new iteration of the HAB interface actually realizes one part of our initial vision for the HAB: that you are interfacing with a piece of low-grade LYNX technology to do all your employee duties. This matches the lo-fi, cassette-futurist aesthetic you’ll find elsewhere in the game. With this update, most of this lo-fi feeling is achieved with image effects applied on top of the interface in order to make it feel like an old CRT monitor (bloom, scanlines, chromatic aberration, etc.).

We personally adore the lo-fi visuals this brings, but also recognize that some players may not like it and, even more importantly, for some Players it adds a legitimate accessibility barrier. We’d like to improve on this right away, and so we have fast-tracked some work that was planned for the future: adding the ability to disable the screen effects in the HAB interface.

We are releasing this option (found in the Graphics tab of the Options menu) as a hotfix today.

This is something that was upcoming towards the end of Early Access, as part of our “Accessibility Options”, but we brought it forward to right now. We don’t want the readability of this screen to be the thing that impedes someone’s enjoyment or ability to play the game.

Alright, so let’s now talk about the loss of visual interest in the HAB. Some players have described the new UI as “cold”, or lacking the “homey” feel it had previously. We’d like to reassure you that we think this will be addressed in our next update, when we release the SECOND part of our final vision for the HAB: the 3D HAB. This 3D space is intended to be a cozy and comfortable break from the cold vacuum of the Salvage Bay, and in this space you will interact with a terminal to access the HAB UI you use now.

The 2D background of the previous HAB UI was meant to be a stand-in for this 3D space. Moving to 3D also allows the HAB UI to take up the full screen when in use, which is another move toward better accessibility and usability.

We’re aware of and are collecting additional feedback on the actual function and flow of the HAB UI, and will be looking at incorporating fixes and improvements for these issues in future updates. We’re always listening for feedback like this in order to improve the game for everyone as this is a quintessential part of why we opted for Early Access! We hope the Hotfix addresses the concerns expressed by some of you, and we hope the 3D HAB update coming soon will make visiting the HAB feel pleasant and cozy again!

Cheers,

Elliot Hudson
Game Director

Hardspace: Shipbreaker has radiation now

As if dismantling a derelict spaceship wasn't already hazardous enough, developers Blackbird Interactive have added radiation to Hardspace: Shipbreaker. The Pretty Rad update dropped this week for the sci-fi ship scrapping sim, making it so players can find and extract Radiation Filters on their looting expeditions. This is easier said than done, however, as those Filters are rather fragile, and can drop radioactive particles if you so much as bump the thing.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker has gotten a new update that adds a whole new dimension to the sci-fi simulation game's salvager experience. Now you'll need to be on the lookout for dangerous radiation while cutting up scrapped ships. Make the wrong cut or bump a part the wrong way, and you'll be sending toxic radioactive particulates into the environment around you - leading to permanent damage to your body, which of course is company property.

With update 0.5.0, you'll start encountering radiation once you've hit certification rank 9. You'll find radiation filters in ships rated at hazard level 6 and above: they appear in wall-sized containment units, and you can pull them out of ship interiors and crawl spaces. You'll want to be extremely careful with these, because the slightest bump or jostle will send the radioactive dust they've been collecting out into a cloud that gradually expands and causes damage to any organic matter or electronic devices it touches.

Worse, fire or cutter beams will agitate the particles, making them even more damaging and dangerous for a short period of time. They'll eventually dissipate on their own, but you can manage them with coolant.

Read the rest of the story...

0.5.0 Update - The Pretty Rad Update

Hello Cutters!

Our 0.5.0 update is now live!

Here’s everything you can expect from this Pretty Rad Update.

New Element: Radiation
HAB Screen Updates
Weekly Race Updates
Sticker Collection V2
Javelin Updates

[h3]New Element: Radiation[/h3]
This update introduces a new element into the mix of hazards players can encounter in the salvage yard: Radiation. We’ve planned on including radiation for a long time now, as an appropriate staple of any good space game. Players can encounter Radiation Filters in ships with Hazard Level 6 and above, starting at Certification Rank 9.

Radiation Filters appear in wall-sized Containment Units, and can be extracted from the ship’s interior or the crawl space. Filters are extremely fragile; even small bumps and damage can cause them to drop a cloud of Radioactive Particulate, which damages organic matter and electronics upon contact. If a cloud comes into contact with fire or heat (such as, say, the beam of your cutter) it will agitate the particulate cloud, making it more dangerous for a short period of time. The clouds expand slowly over time, meaning they are best dealt with early. They can be neutralized with coolant (though chucking a coolant tank at one can be a dangerous maneuver itself), otherwise they dissipate naturally over a very long period of time.

Our goal with this element was to create spatial challenges through it’s placement, and to have players think on their feet and adjust their path through a ship depending on changing circumstances. We also wanted to create an element that did not have a binary state of catastrophic failure or perfect salvage, and provide more of an escalation of danger.

Rad!

[h3]HAB Screen Updates[/h3]
As a follow-up from the previous update which saw an overhaul of the entire HUD screen for the game, 0.5.0 now continues this work with an overhaul of the HAB screens. A lot of the UI overhauls play into other features we are working on at the moment for future updates, so we aim to unify the style of the UI across the board and improve usability flows, especially for screens with a lot of information. We’re also preparing these screens for integration into the 3D HAB scene in a future update.

Pretty!

[h3]Weekly R.A.C.E Update[/h3]
We are interested in trying out a new cadence for the Weekly R.A.C.E by renaming it to Cutter’s Challenge and making it a daily race instead. This is an experimental change and we’d like to hear feedback from the racer community about this cadence!

Rad!

[h3]Sticker Collection V2[/h3]
The 0.5.0 update comes with a small update to our sticker collection, introducing Sticker Collection v2! Most Stickers now have a Holographic variant that can be unlocked by collecting a certain amount of a regular sticker and then upgrading it to the Holographic version.

Pretty AND Rad!

[h3]Javelin Improvements[/h3]
With our changes to the flow of the campaign and the progression system, we are closely listening to player feedback. Aside from tweaking the pace of tool updates and speed of progression as part of the Early Access process, we are looking to give all of our existing ship classes a pass as well. In the previous update we made a ton of gameplay improvements to the Mackerel ships, and in this update we started improvements on the Javelins.

Our goal was to include a lot of quality of life improvements on salvaging of a Javelin, making them easier to understand in the earlier stages of the game and reserving complexity for the higher hazard levels. We mainly made changes to the way earlier Javelin Rings are salvaged to provide a smoother transition from Mackerel ships into larger ships. We have removed some cut points we have deemed unnecessary, simplified and clarified the way the rings and interior is meant to be approached, and reduced the amount of cargo crates that can spawn on the outside of Javelins.

Rad(ial!)

As always, we also addressed some smaller bugs and quality of life concerns with the game and progression flow, as well as working on crashes and performance improvements.

One major fix: The game should no longer crash when throwing large, complex salvage into the furnace!

Please continue to share your thoughts and feelings on the update with us, your feedback is invaluable to our work. The best place to engage with us is through our Discord, but we also read Steam forums and reviews.

Have fun out there, and we’ll see you in the yard!

The Shipbreaker Dev Team

[h2]Full Patch Notes[/h2]
🚀 denotes changes or fixes based on Community Feedback & Participation

[h3]Changes and Updates[/h3]
New Element: Radiation

A new element that can spawn as part of the crawlspace in all ships Hazard Level 6 or higher
Players can encounter radiation once they’ve reached rank 9 in the campaign
Radiation filters, when bumped or damaged, drop radiate particulate clouds that damage the player and electronics upon contact
Radiation is agitated upon contact with fire elements
Radiation clouds can be neutralized by using cryogenic elements

HAB UI Refresh

Full visual overhaul of the HAB UI to match the HUD overhaul stylistically
🚀 Additional information and functionality on the new and improved Certification screen
New Sticker flow to support easier placement and upgrading of stickers
New Data Miner look and audio design

🚀 Weekly R.A.C.E now “Cutter’s Challenge”

Weekly R.A.C.E has been renamed to Cutter’s Challenge
Players can now engage in racing on a daily new ship instead of a weekly one
We are interested in player feedback for this change

Sticker Collection V2

Stickers can now have a shiny version for extra-eager Cutters
Stickers can now be upgraded to shiny versions if players collect enough of one sticker

Javelin Improvements

Javelin rings on lower difficulties are now salvaged more easily
Overall reduced number of cutpoints on Javelins
Included a new cuttable wall element to make salvaging interiors more intuitive
🚀 Simplified the way Javelin cockpits are salvaged and removed hidden cut points
🚀 Aerobridge is now more intuitive to salvage
ECU wall is now a furnace salvageable
Cockpit frame is now also furnace salvage to avoid mixing salvage materials
Reduced mass and number of cargo containers
Bulkhead is now furnace salvageable
Connector scaffolding chassis was simplified to make cutting it out more intuitive
Several smaller quality of life improvements

Continued improvements to performance and crashes

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

Fixed a crash when throwing large and complex structures into the furnace
Fixed a bug that could cause whole objects structures to disintegrate/disappear when salvaging it
Fixed the post mission ship grade unlock for reaching rank 5 to show the correct unlocks
Class 1 Reactor plates are now joining correctly to the walls on Mackerels again
Fixed the Weekly R.A.C.E. shift time on large Javelins to show the intended 45m
Fixed a bug that caused Power Cells to spawn disconnected from electrical wires
Fixed a bug where Heavy Cargo Geckos can spawn with a disconnected ECU coolant pipe
Corrected Certification Ship Class unlocks, which were offset by one
Fixed an issue where seats could spawn with detachable parts
Fixed a bug where lights were spawning double in the back section of Javelins
Repair Kit Widgets now appear on the upgrade screen again
Fixed an issue where the HUD reticle and carats appear during the Shift Performance screen
Fixed a faulty screen transition from the HAB to continuing a ship
Fixed a crash error when attempting to play 2nd shift in career mode
Fixed an issue where only the cutter appears in the equipment screen, blocking access to the tether tutorial
Fixed a localization bug that caused cut points to be displayed in Localization IDs
Fixed a bug where players could try to leave the tutorial through the Master Jack before the end
Fixed an issue in the tutorial where the large aluminium chunks is cut and separate into more pieces than intended
Fixed a bug where players could not continue a shift after dismissing new HAB greeting pop-ups

Hardspace: Shipbreaker's biggest-ever update introduces your crew

We've been enjoying the blue-collar hussle of Hardspace: Shipbreaker since it entered Early Access last summer, and now there's even more about the sci-fi job simulation game to like. The latest update, dubbed 'Salvage Your Future,' fills out Shipbreaker's story with four new voiced crewmates. The update also revamps the tutorial process and the progression system, and developer Blackbird Interactive says it's the biggest one to date.

The first thing you'll probably notice when you boot up Hardspace: Shipbreaker post-update is that your progress has been reset. The entire progression system has been reworked, and certifications that unlock new ships and gear are now tied to 'mastery points.' You'll earn these by filling up a meter at the top of the screen called 'Salvage Goals,' and every bit of scrap you send for recycling or incineration adds to the total.

Don't fret too much about losing progress, because certification ranks 1 through 7 now have a new campaign story to accompany them. You'll be meeting four fellow crewmembers who will provide some additional colour for Shipbreaker's dystopian sci-fi world.