Astro Colony News

Hello Colonists!

In today's update, more architectural features have been added to the game:

• auto-generated corners for walls
  
• the way to interact and disable auto-generated edges for floors

[h2]Auto-generated corners[/h2]

For each 90-degree wall corner the game generates edges that also match themes.

[h2]Floor interaction - disable edges possible[/h2]

Each side of the floor can be independently turned off.


It also supports big walls, so edges can be disabled there as well!

Some bugs got resolved, thanks a lot for every report!

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where a smelter could leave gates visible after removal
  
• Fixed a multiplayer crash when loading inside humans
  
• Fixed wall rotation after picking the world element
  
• Fixed a multiplayer issue where pushing items could lead to desync inventory
  
• Fixed some translucency problems (ex. water tank)
  

As you probably noticed, the Steam Summer Sale is here! Many games, including Astro Colony, are currently on sale!

In addition, the game cooperates with other developers to create bundles!

[h2]Void Train[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/33359/New_World_Explorers/

[h2]Occupy Mars[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/32436/Occupy_Mars__Astro_Colony_Bundle/



I would love to invite you to Dev Stream #5
Please come to say hello and share your thoughts with me!

Start today (Sunday) at 20:00CET (8:00 PM)

For people who have Steam broadcasting issues, I am also streaming on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/Tefel


Thanks guys so much for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Hello Colonists!

It's time for another update regarding navigation, pathfinding and bot requests.
There are many new ways to make the navigation and request systems reliable.
In addition, many small improvements and changes.




Previously, bots were automatically locked to the nearest device that contained the desired resource.
This was creating confusion for some players and looked like a bug, where transport bots could get locked. There was a dotted line indicating that a transport bot wanted to get somewhere.

Currently, each single request (starting from the highest priority - most desired) is checked on all possible devices to make sure that it can reach its destination.


It's also working for astronauts! Previously, starving astronauts who picked food from a canteen would lock themselves to the closest dining table. Even if we tried to build closer to the astronaut, it wouldn't go there because it was locked to the first dining table. Right now, it's finding new tables when we build them.

You can still see a dotted line for a split second, indicating a closer device (more efficient), but it cannot be reached, so instead a longer path was taken.




In addition to many navigation improvements, there is an option to choose between device types providing resources (producer vs storage):

• producer is a device that is crafting new items, for example, an asteroid catcher, smelter, kitchen
  
• storage is a container that has resources via transport, e.g. a base warehouse, storage container

[h2]List of changes[/h2]

• Resource requests can now define a device type
  
• New savegame system with compression data, allowing to reduce savegame sizes by 70-80%.
  
• New water shader and updates based on the render side only
  
• Transport bot can now deliver and pick resources from devices blocked by conveyor belts
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where migrated bots would not save when creating a savegame
  
• Fixed an issue where asteroid catcher would not start a new crafting
  
• Fixed an issue where switching to other items when having active drag construction would cause a crash
  
• Fixed an issue where moving station would leave player behind after possessing asteroid catcher
  
• Fixed a multiplayer issue where the state was corrupted (having invalid docks)

I would love to invite you to Dev Stream #4
Please come to say hello and share your thoughts with me!

Start today (Wednesday) at 21:30CET (9:30 PM)

For people who have Steam broadcasting issues, I am also streaming on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/Tefel


Thanks guys so much for support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Hello Colonists!

Exciting news: the blueprints library (collections) is already in the game!
You can share your favorite blueprints with the community or use them when starting a new game!


Blueprints Library is a place where you can create blueprint collections from existing game blueprints or add new ones from locally stored blueprint collection files.

The screen is divided into three sections:
[h2]Left section[/h2]


The left panel shows all your current game blueprints. You can select elements and save them as collection.
[h2]Middle + right section[/h2]


Shows a list of blueprint files located in %localappdata%/AstroColony/Saved/BlueprintLibraries
After selecting a file, you will have access to all blueprints stored.
Pick blueprints you are interested about and add them to your current game!

[h2]Missing theme?[/h2]
What if a blueprint is created with a theme that is not part of my game?


Don't worry, you can decide if you want to create a custom theme based on the missing theme or use the default theme.

[h2]Sharing blueprints[/h2]
To share your blueprints simply go to the save BlueprintLibraries directory and copy files you want to share with the community.

There is the new channel #blueprints on Discord:
https://discord.com/invite/EFzAA3w


[h2]List of changes[/h2]

• New Blueprints Library screen allowing to save and load blueprints from collections
  
• New save extension used .bprt for blueprint collections
  
• Seamless glass wall added
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where the construction screen item preview wasn't visible when starting the game
  
• Fixed an issue where possessing an auto-catcher when moving would make the camera jumping
  
• Fixed an issue where updating water level could cause a rendering crash
  
• Fixed multiplayer issue where using transfer all button would cause global inventory desync
  
• Fixed an issue where big floors in blueprints had invalid cost
  
• Fixed an issue where big walls in blueprints had invalid cost
  
• Fixed an issue where robots assembler would push robot even if there was not enough space
  
• Fixed pushing into conveyor belt ramps
  

I would love to invite you to Dev Stream #3
Please join and share your game ideas, or just say hello!

Start today (Thursday) at 21:30CET (9:30 PM)

For people who have Steam broadcasting issues, I am also streaming on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/Tefel

Thanks guys so much for support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Hello Colonists!

It's time for a second update with fixes and development broadcast #2.

There are some important changes and fixes, so please check the list below.
Thank you for reporting all issues, so I could polish the state of the game.

[h2]List of changes[/h2]

• Blueprints can now be shifted in 6 directions
  
• Blueprints can now be rotated
  
• Blueprints are now scrollable
  
• New decals added to the game
  
• Decals collider is showing size of the decal
  
• Decals can now change colors
  
• New way of rendering decals in the construction menu
  
• Speed of miners increased
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• World deposits no longer can be selected to create a blueprint
  
• Box selection can no longer select world objects - resources/trees etc
  
• Multiplayer custom themes are now saved properly
  
• Logic blocks no longer re-enabled when loaded from a savegame
  
• Auto-catcher can be manually controlled - no auto catching when possessed
  
• Encyclopedia overlapping items fixed
  

I would love to invite you to the Dev Stream #2
Feel free to comment if you want to see something in particular.

Start today (Sunday) at 21:00CET (9PM)

For people who have Steam broadcasting issues, I am also streaming on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/Tefel

Thanks guys so much for support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Hello Colonists!

There is a new updated version of the game with plenty of fixes and improvements.
Thank you once again for reporting every tiny issue you found, it was very useful to polish state of the Architecture update.

[h2]List of changes[/h2]

• Foundations are now walkable. Both blocks and foundations let you construct floors.
  
• New improved pathfinding to help resolve paths blocked by walls
  
• Menus are now focusing inputs to quick value change - example logic splitter to change ratio
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• Oxygen no longer consumed when being in the blueprint designer
  
• Saving/loading of bots and astronauts fixed (yesterday)
  
• Blueprint designer no longer loses interactions (yesterday)
  
• Blueprint designer no longer shows interactions with asteroids (yesterday)
  
• Improved validation for blueprint construction (yesterday)
  
• Selection tool menu visible (yesterday)
  

Feel free to comment if you want to see something in particular.

Start today (Friday) at 22:00CET (10PM)

For people who have Steam broadcasting issues, I am also streaming on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/Tefel


Thanks guys so much for support!
Tefel (Terad Games)