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Dev Update 2023-09-09: New Tutorials and Starmap

Greetings, Space Travelers!

I'm still working on the upcoming major update, extending it with a few more noteworthy features. Let's take a look!

[h2]New Tutorials[/h2]



The Wrecked scenario had a built-in tutorial that didn't cover enough of the game. It was completely removed in favor of a brand new tutorial system. I've accumulated a large amount of feedback about the current tutorial, and applied a lot of it when building this new system.



There will be multiple new tutorials, each covering a single aspect of the game, and you will be able to move back and forth through the tutorial messages.



Tutorials will be optional, but highly recommended even for the seasoned players, as they will reveal certain tips and tricks that are quite difficult to figure out on your own. I've seen players with over 100 hours of play time getting surprised to find out you can hold shift to build floors in a circle.



[h2]New Universe and Starmap Mechanics[/h2]



There are a few big changes in the Starmap:
  1. Universe generation is now less random and based on Biomes to distribute resources and faction presence. You will have to leave the first star system to find Uranium and the planet closest to your ship will be guaranteed to have common resources very much needed in early game.
  2. Star systems will have visual trajectory rings. Planets won't be moving around stars just yet, but that option is now on the table.
  3. You can enter planets, star systems and galaxies while the ship is still moving. It was annoying to have to wait for the ship to get to full stop.
  4. You will have to fly your ship outside the outermost ring to exit planets, star systems and galaxies. While the instant exit button was convenient, it was confusing, immersion breaking and required ugly hacks like not allowing to exit the system while an asteroid was incoming.




These changes made the previously generated universe pretty much obsolete, therefore if you will load an old save file, the universe will be regenerated from scratch. This means that all shuttle expeditions and copters will be returned, any planet terraforming progress will be lost. It's inconvenient, but necessary, and I do always recommend a fresh new run with every new major update anyway.

[h2]Improved Charts[/h2]



The charts will now be much easier to read. You can also clear them and toggle the view between 0-max and min-max.

[h2]Freeze of v0.9[/h2]

You may have noticed that the v0.9 version is getting almost no updates. This is because the v0.10 has diverged to a point where backporting changes to v0.9 is becoming inconvenient. I want to move fast and release the v0.10 update sooner, therefore I encourage you to switch to the `experimental` or v_0_10_rc branch in `Steam Betas` and try the upcoming updates today. Any issues reported in v0.10 release candidate are fixed with top priority.
Both experimental and v_0_10_rc are currently pointing to the same build.



That's it for now, see you in the next development update that will bring the v0.10 to everyone!
- spajus

[h2]Follow the Development[/h2]


[h2]Get Stardeus[/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1380910/Stardeus/

Dev Update 2023-08-05: UI Rework and Upcoming Big Changes

Greetings, Space Travelers!

I'm again a little late to prepare what is supposed to be a *monthly* development update, because time flies too quickly. It has been a very busy period! For some time now, I've been managing two tasks concurrently: fixing reported bugs and implementing small enhancements to the current version, while also putting significant effort into a new major update.

I want to finish and polish the new major update sooner, so I will be focusing primarily on this for the upcoming couple of months. As a result, the frequency and size of updates will decrease. Rest assured, any critical bugs, especially ones reported in the Steam forums, will still be addressed within one day, as they usually were.

This development update is your peek into what's coming next. I'm excited about it and will share more details as the work progresses. Thanks for your understanding, your support, and your patience as I forge ahead with these improvements.

But before looking into what's coming next, let's take a glance at the ongoing UI overhaul.

[h2]UI Overhaul[/h2]

Stardeus UI was designed with a developer-first philosophy, I wanted it to be easy to build and control through C# code, so both myself and the modders could create the UI by stitching little building blocks together. That meant that almost no parts of the UI were hand crafted like in many other games.

However, the developer-first UI had many flaws and usability problems. After a very useful consultation with an expert in the UI/UX field, I ended up with a plan on how to improve things. It will take a lot of time to go through it completely, but the process has already begun, and the results are wonderful. Here are some more notable changes to the UI that are already there:

[h2]Item grouping[/h2]


The top-left info panel and mass selected items are now grouped into logical categories.

[h2]Split and reorganized overlay buttons[/h2]
The cluster of ~30 overlay buttons was broken down into 4 logical sectors - visual overlays, information views, system controls and special group for important views like Research and Starmap.

[h2]Events cleanup[/h2]



The event list used to contain too many notifications, many of them weren't important enough to take up that valuable space. Many of the notifications were removed and placed into the new Log panel.

[h2]Log Panel[/h2]

This tiny box contains a detailed timestamped flow of events ranging from Asteroid impacts to Bob taking 3 physical damage from stubbing a toe on a mini heater.

[h2]Fanfare Message[/h2]



When something really important happens, you don't want to miss it. That's why a large message will show up in the center of the screen when that happens. It will remain there for 10 seconds, giving you enough time to notice it.

[h2]New Trade UI[/h2]



Old trade UI was clunky and quite confusing. This new UI will save you a lot of clicking and will make trading a much more pleasant experience.

I'm not done with the UI overhaul yet, but if you have any suggestions or feedback regarding what is happening with the UI, please share it in the comments or on Stardeus Discord - I'd love to know what you think!

Now let's move onto the main meat of this post - the sneak peek at the next major update.

[h2]Coming Soon: New Research System[/h2]



The next big thing is going to be a brand new research system! It is probably the biggest change to the way the game will be played compared to previous major updates - derelict ships and complex planets.

But before I reveal how the new system works, let me explain why the current research system had to change.

[h3]Problems with the current Research System[/h3]

The research system that is in the current v0.9 version has been around since the very beginning of the project. It is complex in a bad way and has a plethora of problems:
  • Research tree is not arranged in a logical way.
  • It unlocks by consuming increasingly large amounts of electricity and waiting for a progress bar to go to 100%. This doesn't feel rewarding.
  • Research does not use all available electricity, only Ship Computers and Research Stations with a human operator can contribute their energy to move the research progress forward. This is not obvious.
  • There is a slider in the Ship Computer and Research Station UI that allows changing the amount of electricity contributed to research. It was added out of necessity, but it brought more complexity and confusion.
  • You have to build a server farm full of disk and memory modules to be able to run research. I personally find this fun, but not everyone does.
  • With proper infrastructure in place, any research node can be unlocked in 1 in-game day, and parallel research could work towards unlocking multiple research nodes simultaneously. Not everyone is aware of this.
  • Experienced players who know the game well are able to unlock everything very quickly. This makes the progression too easy after you find the optimal strategy.
  • Many would get frustrated waiting for research to slowly crawl for way too long often without understanding that they could make it go much faster.
  • Some wouldn't even start a research because they thought that the full amount of electricity is required to run the research. And it is definitely not their fault - it is bad system design, which is my fault.


All this is about to change, because I have killed this research system with fire, and a brand new system is already in the final stages of development. It changed the game so much that I had to throw away the tutorial (a new set of better tutorials are coming) and I'm looking at several hundred broken integration tests that may require a full rewrite. This will keep me busy for a while.

[h3]How does the New Research System work?[/h3]



Here are the main concepts behind the new research system:
  • Rather than time + electricity based, it is resource based and somewhat inspired by Factorio research with Science Packs. It gives the player an incentive to establish a resource processing pipeline and hunt for required materials.
  • To unlock research nodes, you have to produce special materials called "Datoids". There are about 10 types of them right now.
  • Datoids are crafted from mostly common materials in specialized devices called "Data Harvesters". There will be several different types of Data Harvesters, each capable of producing specific types of Datoids.
  • You cannot buy or sell Datoids, but in addition to crafting them, you may get some by completing quests and possibly through some story events.
  • One you have enough Datoids of the right type, you can unlock the research nodes instantly. This will create situations where you will go "shopping" for the available tech in the research tree, choosing which items you need the most right away.
  • Disk space is still required to store the research data, but the disk costs are much smaller than before. Disk modules are also pre-unlocked, making it impossible to lock yourself out of continuing the research.
  • Research Queue was replaced with Bookmarks. You can bookmark research nodes and when you have enough Datoids to unlock something that you have bookmarked, you will get a notification.
  • If you don't have any bookmarked items or none are unlockable, but you can unlock something else, you will be notified about that as well.


The research tree structure is also brand new, split into more sub-trees and much more logical. Big thanks to our community member lysixa for designing a prototype of the new research tree structure. This was exactly the push I needed to start working on the new research system.

[h2]The New Research System is available for public testing[/h2]

If you're still reading, here comes the good part. You can try this new research system right now if you switch to v0_10_rc in Steam BETAS. I recommend this to experienced players only for now, because the tutorial has been removed and the new tutorials aren't ready yet. It's still rough around the edges and may be unbalanced, but if you are brave enough, you are welcome to try it out.



As much as I wish to be able to playtest it all myself with multiple play styles, time is my biggest enemy, and I really appreciate your feedback!

There is a #stardeus-new-reserach channel on Stardeus Discord, or you can use the in-game "Report a bug" button and Steam Forums to submit your feedback.

[h2]Development Streams are back![/h2]



I was working quietly for several months, but now the regular development streams are back! You are welcome to catch them on both Twitch and YouTube, drop in to say hello and I will be happy to answer any questions about Stardeus, game development, meaning of life and other topics.

That's it for this update, see you in the next one!
- spajus

[h2]Follow the Development[/h2]


[h2]Get Stardeus[/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1380910/Stardeus/

Dev Update 2023-06-09: Electricity System Rewrite

Hey Space Travelers!

I would normally make a dev update post when there's more to talk about, but the following message had to be made to give everyone a heads up.

[h2]Attention! Many Mods will break next Monday, June 12th![/h2]

This update will break a lot of mods, if you want to keep playing your save with old mods working, please switch to "v0_8_x" in Steam Betas. I will keep the v0.8.x in main branch for a few more days, if you want to try the v0.9 early, switch to "experimental" branch right now.

[h2]How to change the branch[/h2]
  • In Steam, click on Library > Games.
  • Find Stardeus.
  • Right-click and select Properties.
  • Go to the BETAS tab.
  • In the dropdown, select the branch you want to play.
  • In that same Properties window, go to the Local Files tab and press "Verify Integrity Of Game Files."
  • Your game will be updated to the new branch. If it's not "default", you will see the branch name next to the game name, i.e. "Stardeus [experimental]" or "Stardeus [v0_8_x]".
  • Launch the game and play it.


[h2]Electricity Rewrite[/h2]

With that out of the way, let's talk about what changed. Right after releasing the Complex Planets update I shifted focus towards rewriting one of the biggest performance bottlenecks for large late game ships - the electricity system. It was an extremely difficult task, as the old electricity architecture was the backbone of the whole game. The rewrite involved changing the code and configuration of every single electrical device in the game, and it was so big that I had to bump the game version from v0.8.x to v0.9.

Unfortunately this rewrite also broke all the mods that interacted with electricity in any way. However this had to be done sooner rather than later as in order to support smooth electricity grid simulation on large ships, the old architecture relied on a few hacks that had various side effects that other systems had to deal with. The new architecture is data oriented, based on the wonderful Unity Job System, and about 500x faster than the old one.

The changes shouldn't affect the gameplay much, but you may feel that the game is smoother and runs faster at 10x speed with large ships. There will be a lot of little subtle changes in the electricity system though, you will now see how much batteries consume when they charge, all reactors will share the workload evenly, some confusing features like customizing electrical device consumption and production priorities are gone, connectors now have an on/off switch, etc.

If you're interested in more technical details, subscribe to Kodo Linija on YouTube - I will be making a devlog video explaining more details behind this rewrite, showing some code, etc.

The next big rewrite will target AI behavior - task assignment and execution. This is now the single biggest bottleneck the game has (after growing your colony to hundreds of beings). Just like the electricity rewrite, this will be no small challenge, but I have to tackle it because it's aligned with the next major content update, which will be about... Oh wait, let's keep it a secret for now.

See you in the next one!
Spajus

[h2]Follow the Development[/h2]


[h2]Get Stardeus[/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1380910/Stardeus/

Sci-fi colony building sim Stardeus gets a big planetary expansion

If dwarves aren't your thing and you want to do some building in space, Stardeus is worth a look and it just recently had a pretty huge upgrade.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/05/sci-fi-colony-building-sim-stardeus-gets-a-big-planetary-expansion

Major Update #2: Complex Planets

Hey Space Travelers!

The time has finally come, this massive update is ready to be revealed! I made a video explaining all the changes, and how to prepare your existing ships for the transition. It also includes a couple of tips and tricks you will likely want to know, so take a look. It has chapters for easy navigation:

[previewyoutube]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX6_TiVtJsw[/previewyoutube]

And if you prefer the good old blog post format, here are the most important changes right now. This is not going to be as complete of an overview as the video above, but enough to get the gist.

[h2]New Starmap Layer for Planets[/h2]


It is now possible to enter any Planet in the Starmap in the same way you would enter a Star System or a Galaxy. Planets now have their own Starmap layer, and each planet will contain several points of interest and various resource deposits.

Flying in the Planet layer will require having Thrusters (the early games ones), since Fusion Drives are too powerful for this.


From now on you won’t have to wait for the mining expedition to randomly roam until they stumble on the resource you’re looking for, you will have full control over where you want the expedition to go.

[h2]Points of Interest[/h2]


Previously expeditions could encounter various story events, but you couldn’t predict if and when the expedition would find something other than a resource deposit. Now each event will have an individual location and you will have to send a separate expedition to explore it. Mining skill will play no role in these often dangerous adventure expeditions, so you can send your humans.

[h2]Sell Derelict Ships in Space Ports[/h2]

if the planet belongs to some Faction, it will have a Space Port, where you will be able to sell the Derelict Ships you towed along with you. Sections Overlay (F10) will have a "Sell" button next to all sections when you are close to a Space Port.

Space Ports are also good for trading, as they will have more inventory and more cash than the regular wandering merchants.

[h2]Distress Signals[/h2]


In addition to explorable Points of Interest, we now have signals that can be responded to directly from the ship, if you have a working Communicator device.

[h2]Mining Automation[/h2]


This is probably the most exciting feature of this major update. The Mining Automation research unlocks Autodrill Rigs and Cargo Copters. You will need them both to automate the resource gathering, so your crew can chill and focus on something other than striking the earth.


To begin the automation process, build a couple of Autodrill Rigs and at least one Cargo Copter.


Then use the "Deploy Resource Miner" option and the Cargo Copter will handle the rest.


After a while you can order the Cargo Copter to collect the accumulated resource from the deposit that has an Autodrill Rig installed.


If you lose a Cargo Copter, just open the Copter Missions overlay, and it will tell you what each Cargo Copter is up to, and where to find it.

[h2]Enriched Uranium and Changes to Nuclear Fuel[/h2]


Nuclear Reactors will no longer be able to burn raw Uranium, you will have to produce Enriched Uranium to fuel them.


To produce Enriched Uranium, build a Centrifuge.


Matter Reactors will now be able to consume raw Uranium, but the energy efficiency will be far inferior compared to Nuclear Reactors fueled by Enriched Uranium.

[h2]Detecting Alien Life Forms[/h2]


You will no longer have to guess if any of your colonists are infected with those pesky crawlers or if you have an egg lurking in some dark corner of your ship.


Research and build a Xenodetector that will scan the environment and will warn you if alien life forms are present. It will only give you an approximate location, so you will still have to do some detective work to figure out who exactly is infected.

[h2]Paint System[/h2]


The Paint system will bring ship customization to the next level.


Build Auto Painters, produce Red, Green and Blue pigments, then mix them together to change the color of any floor or wall to your liking.

[h2]Signs and Labels[/h2]


New Sign device will allow you to customize the name of any room, and project that name either on the device screen or directly on the floor.


And when you unlock the Labeling research node, you can add labels to any device you want.

[h2]Outer Hull View (Roof)[/h2]


There is no roof in space, but you will no longer have to guess which areas are considered "enclosed" by the simulation. Capsules and Stasis Pods won't land in the middle of your cafeteria anymore. Read on to see why this is going to become extremely important.

[h2]Some Devices Must Be Outdoors[/h2]


The aforementioned "roof" mechanic will require Shuttles, Quantum Barriers, Radars, Probes and some other devices to reside "outdoors". Launching a Shuttle or a Probe from an enclosed area will, let’s say, make it no longer enclosed.

[h2]Balance and Difficulty[/h2]

There were multiple big changes to the starting conditions of the Wrecked scenario. It will become much more challenging and resource constrained than it used to be. I highly recommend starting a brand new run and trying it out.

You won't be able to expand too quickly, there will be material shortages and you will have to come up with creative strategies to survive and expand in a manageable way.

If you want a more relaxed experience, visit the Modifiers and change the Difficulty and the Resource Multiplier to give yourself a smoother start. Or play the Leaving Earth scenario, which gives you a jump start with plenty of resources for creative freedom while still telling you a story.

I understand that these balance and difficulty changes will be frustrating for some players, though the changes are not final, I am constantly testing the game myself and I will listen to all your feedback and try to find a good compromise for everyone, either by adjusting the balance or by adding new game modifiers that will let you tweak some parameters to your liking.

If you run into a bad balance situation and can't find a way out of it, please use "Report a Bug" button in the bottom right and discuss the issue in the Steam Forums.

A branch called v0_7_x in Steam Betas contains the last version before this update.

---

There are many more changes, some of them are covered in the devlog video, and you can find even more by scavenging through the Stardeus Changelog here: https://stardeusgame.com/changelog


See you in the next update!
- spajus

[h2]Follow the Development[/h2]


[h2]Get Stardeus[/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1380910/Stardeus/